Cervical cancer is the fourth most common female cancer worldwide and the most common cancer for women ages 15-34, with around half a million new cases and a quarter of a million deaths per year. The five year survival rate of this population is just 64%, and 50% of patients experience a relapse after radiotherapy and chemotherapy. Currently, there is no effective treatment for these women.

When Debbie Philips, successful lawyer, mother of three and a warm and kind friend died in 2010, her family and friends could find no current research into the disease so they decided to fund research led by Professor Kerry Chester, an antibody specialist at UCL.