Lay summary
Our immune system keeps us healthy by fighting infections and repairing damage, but can also work against us. Immune cells can drive long-lasting inflammation after metabolic disruption, or they can shut down the body’s ability to fight cancer, stopping modern immunotherapy treatments from working in many patients. We aim to develop new medicines to reset the local immune environment. These drugs will work by blocking the breakdown of key signalling molecules to restore balance in how tissues and immune cells communicate. In turn, this will reset the signals sent by diseased tissues and the improper responses of the immune cells they attract. The potential impact is large: better treatments for millions of people living with chronic inflammation associated with metabolic disease, and wider access to life-saving cancer immunotherapies. These medicines would not only improve health but also create major opportunities for new therapies worldwide.