Advancing the Use of Viruses to Treat Cancer

What was the biomedical issue you addressed in your research, and what did your studies find?

An emerging and exciting area in the treatment of cancer involves using viruses as a means to provide therapy. Dr. Barry's lab focuses on an approach called oncolytic virotherapy, utilizing viruses that are engineered to recognize and destroy cancer cells. One drawback, however, is that the effectiveness of oncolytic virotherapy can be transient. Cancer may recur after the viruses are cleared from the body by the immune system.

One of my research projects focused on developing an oncolytic virus that's engineered to stimulate a durable anti-tumor immune response by enabling the body to mount its own response to the cancer cells. We studied an oncolytic adenovirus, a common virus that's useful in immunostimulation therapy. In preclinical studies, we studied oncolytic adenoviruses that were engineered to produce two immune stimulatory factors, known as CD40L and 4-1BBL, each with its own target in the immune system. The idea is to activate tumor-specific T-cell immune response and also generate immune memory to keep cancer from recurring. Our results show this approach is effective in a model system, paving the way to advance further toward clinical trials.

A second aim of my research focused on expediting the production of adenoviral vectors. I developed a novel adenovirus construction system, known as the FastAd system, that shortens the production of adenoviral vectors from a traditional two-month timeline to a 10-day workflow. This new process may apply to oncolytic adenoviruses as well as other viral therapies, such as the speedy vaccine production needed in a healthcare emergency. Our publications describing this work are in progress. I believe this new approach has the potential to revolutionize aspects of adenovirus research, offering new possibilities for advancing the development of cancer treatment, vaccines and gene therapy.

What aspects of Mayo's culture helped you grow as a scientist and thinker?

A unique aspect of Mayo's culture is the highly open and collaborative environment. I was able to receive technical support, cell lines, and reagents that are essential to my research from labs in the Department of Molecular Medicine at Mayo. The immunology lab of Aaron Johnson, Ph.D., provided access to the flow cytometer and cryotome machines. It's also common for research labs to have several collaborations within or outside of Mayo. I was able to collaborate with a researcher at The Hormel Institute at the University of Minnesota to study adenovirus structure using cryogenic electron microscopy.

What's next?

I will remain at Mayo Clinic for a postdoctoral fellowship position in Dr. Barry's lab for the exciting application of the technology I developed to address the challenges of cancer, infectious diseases, and genetic disorders.