Dr Hannah Newnes is an early career research scientist with a joint appointment in the Cancer Immunotherapy Program at the University of Western Australia (UWA) and the Melanoma Discovery Lab at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research. She completed her PhD at UWA in 2023, investigating how type I interferons shape anti-tumour T cell responses, and has since authored a first-author Science Advances publication and has been awarded competitive funding to apply her expertise in genetic engineering to improve T cell-based immunotherapies with a particular focus on TIL therapy. Dr Newnes is part of the WA Melanoma Initiative pioneering the manufacturing of tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy locally. She is skilled across molecular and cellular techniques including genetic engineering, flow cytometry, and animal models and is using these skills to develop the next generation of TIL therapies.