Anand C Annan, M.D.
Graduate Student Assistant
Division of Human Gene Therapy

560 Biomedical Research Building II
901 19th Street South
Birmingham, AL 35294

Email: acanand@uab.edu

Phone: (205) 205-975-7594
DHGT phone: (205)-934-8627
DHGT fax: (205) 975-7476

Mentor:
David T. Curiel

Undergraduate Institution:
Government Kilpauk Medical College

Entered DHGT:
September 2005


Research Interests

I am working on 3 different projects. The first project is more of a clinical one. I'm trying to modulate the SDF-1/CXCR4 biological axis using RNAi technique specifically in the pulmonary vasculature, in the context of cancer metastasis. SDF-1/CXCR4 axis has been implicated in the organ specific metastatic pattern of cancer cells to lung and bone. By modulating this axis in the lung, we propose that the metastatic burden of the lung in breast cancer patients would be decreased and has a potential for translation into a clinical setting. The second project is Basic Virology project of modifying Adenoviral vectors to make them more reliable vector for transferring therapeutic genes. I'm constructing a mosaic adenovirus with 3 different fibers, targeting 3 different receptors. The third one is also a Vector related project. Adenoviruses cannot cross the epithelial/endothelial barriers when injected. So, they cannot be used to deliver therapeutic genes across these barriers. Various approaches are being tried to overcome this limitation. Our lab has shown the exploitation of naturally occurring receptor mediated transcytosis pathway to overcome this barrier. I'm working on retargeting the Adenovirus to neonatal IgG receptor mediated pathway and transcytose it across the endothelial barrier.

ABOUT Anand C Annan

Having completed my MD degree from India, I wanted to work in the biomedical research field and try to solve the clinical diseases from both the perspectives, as a CLINICIAN and a RESEARCHER. I joined the Pathology graduate program in Fall 2004.