Title:   
Associate Professor

Institute:
McMaster University Health & Science Center, Hamilton

Department:  
Pathology & Molecular Medicine

Province:
Ontario

Training:    
Postdoctoral fellow, Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
PhD, Biochemistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
BSc, Molecular Biology & Genetics, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Research interests:
Virus-host interactions: the earliest events in how cells recognize a virus infection; mechanisms used by viruses to subvert cellular anti-viral responses; utilizing this information to develop viruses as novel therapies to specifically attack and kill tumor cells.

Career highlights:
We were able to determine that ICP0-null mutants of HSV have oncolytic capacity in pre-clinical models of breast cancer. Furthermore, we found that these viruses induce an anti-tumor immune response, which is critical for the control of metastases and prevents new tumor growth. In addition, we were able to determine that these viruses target tumour cells that harbor defects within interferon pathways, which will enable the future targeting of these viruses to appropriate tumour types.

Research Projects

Project title:
Characterization of BHV-1 as a potent oncolytic virus for the treatment of multiple cancer types

Funding period:  
2010-2012

Program:
Operating Grant (Basic Research)

Summary:
Despite many years of research, current cancer treatments are ineffective at curing many cancers and have serious side effects. Oncolytic viruses are viruses that kill cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed. We have found that a virus specific for cows can kill a large range of human cancer cells, but not healthy cells. In this project, we will investigate how this virus works and optimize its use as a new cancer therapy.

CRS publications:

Jeff Hummel, Ekaterina Safroneeva and Karen Mossman. The role of ICP0-null HSV-1 and interferon signaling defects in the effective treatment of breast adenocarcinoma. 2005. Molecular Therapy 12(6) : 1101-1110.

Past CRS projects:

2004 Use of Herpes Simplex Virus type I mutants as oncolytic viruses

2002 Use of Herpes Simplex Virus type I mutants as oncolytic viruses