Dr. Tyler J. Curiel visits UAB, gives immunotherapy lecture

(L to R) David Curiel, Tyler Curiel and Laura Timares UAB was pleased to welcome Dr. Tyler J. Curiel on March 3, 2008. Dr. Curiel is the Director of the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Dr. Tyler Curiel is a leading oncologist and is nationally known for his research in the areas of targeted cancer therapy and cancer immunotherapy. Importantly, Dr. Curiel's work predicts that reducing tumor-driven immune suppression will be clinically beneficial in the context of tumor immunotherapy. He highlights that the role of immunosuppressive regulatory T-cells, known, as T-regs, is one mechanism of tumor-driven immune evasion that may provide targets for testing novel anticancer treatment strategies. Dr. Curiel's seminar on March 3, 2008 was entitled "Regulatory T-cells as a Barrier to Effective Immune Therapy for Cancer" and was co-sponsored by the UAB Skin Diseases Research Center, Gene Therapy Center, and the Comprehensive Cancer Center. Dr. Tyler Curiel brainstorms with members of the UAB Division of Human Gene Therapy

Dr. Christof von Kalle gives lecture in UAB Gene Therapy Seminar Series

Christof von Kalle, M.D. visited the UAB Gene Therapy Center on February 12, 2008. Dr. von Kalle is the Director of the National Center of Tumor Diseases (NCT) at the University Hospital Heidelberg and the German Cancer Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany. He is also the Chairman of the Department of Translation Oncology at the DKFZ, as well as Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Division of Experimental Hematology, Cincinnati, OH. Dr. von Kalle is world-renowned for his research in the areas of gene therapy for human hemoglobinopathies, retrovirus-mediated therapy of hematopoietic stem cells, and clinical hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Of note, von Kalle participated in the 1999 French gene therapy trial that restored the immune systems of nine of 11 boys with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency disease (X-SCID), making this the first clear success in gene therapy. In 2003, Dr. von Kalle's group helped determine that in some cases the retrovirus engineered to deliver corrective genes into cells inserted itself in or near a cancer-causing gene, triggering leukemia in patients initially considered cured (see the initial report in Science). Dr. von Kalle's seminar on February 12th, 2008 was entitled "The clonal fate of gene modified blood cells".

American Society for Gene Therapy 10th Annual Meeting Seattle, Washington May 31-June 3, 2007

Members of the UAB Gene Therapy Center and UAB Division of Human Gene Therapy enjoyed the sights in and around Seattle while attending the 10th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Gene Therapy May 31-June 3, 2007 in Seattle, Washington. Twenty-six abstracts were presented by attendees from UAB. James J. Cody presenting his work during a poster session Anton V. Borovjagin (UAB) and Bruce F. Smith (Auburn University Vet School) Joel Glasgow and UAB GTC Alumnus Koichi Takayama Qiana L. Matthews at her poster Yizhe Tang, Miho Murakami and Hideyo Ugai (L-R) at the ASGT 10th Anniversary Reception Leaving Seattle; Mount St. Helens from the air. A horseshoe-shaped crater replaced the symmetrical peak after it's volcanic eruption in May, 1980. Over 400 meters of elevation was lost in 9 hours.

Joseph C. Glorioso is the Gene Therapy Seminar Series 2007 Distinguished Guest Lecturer

Joseph C. Glorioso III, Ph.D was the 2006-2007 Gene Therapy Center Seminar Series Distinguished Guest Lecturer. Dr. Glorioso is world-renowned for his work on the molecular and genetic aspects of the herpes simplex virus and how to better engineer this organism as a vector for transporting therapeutic genes. Dr. Glorioso's role as an international leader in the field of gene therapy is also recognized by his positions as founder and current vice-president of the American Society of Gene Therapy, editor of Gene Therapy and Molecular Biology, U.S. editor of Gene Therapy, and editorial board member of Molecular Therapy. Dr. Glorioso, who also holds the McEllroy Professorship in Biochemistry, is the director of the Human Gene Therapy Center at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, a position he has held since the formation of the Center in 1990. In addition, he currently co-directs a Juvenile Diabetes Foundation Center and is associate director for the Center for Cell Therapeutics, both established in Pittsburgh in 2000. Dr. Glorioso's seminar on May 9th, 2007 was entitled "HSV Vectors, Ion Channels and Chronic Pain Therapy".

Albert B. Deisseroth visits the Gene Therapy Center, Speaks on Cancer Vaccines

The UAB Gene Therapy Center was very pleased to welcome Albert B. Deisseroth, M.D., Ph.D. as a speaker in the 2006-2007 Gene Therapy Center Seminar Series. Dr. Deisseroth is President and CEO of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in San Diego, Ca. Dr. Deisseroth is best known for the development of new directions in the treatment of leukemias and solid tumors through the use of molecular targeting and genetic therapy. He has also been active in the development of new targeting and genetic modification techniques for the treatment of solid tumors. This work has led to a cancer vaccine that can induce T cell mediated immunity against tumor associated antigens for up to a year in animal models. This work has also led to vectors which can target chemotherapy so as to decrease toxicity and increase the efficacy of combination chemotherapy. Currently he is launching a vector mediated tumor vascular targeting trial for breast cancer among other malignancies. Dr. Deisseroth's seminar on April 9, 2007 was entitled "Vaccines for Cancer and Infectious Diseases". His visit to UAB was co-sponsored by the North Central Alabama affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

UAB to Begin Phase I Clinical Trial for Ovarian Cancer with Adenovirus Delta-24-RGD

Click here to read about this clinical trial.

Cancer Biologist Esther H. Chang visits the Gene Therapy Center

The UAB Gene Therapy Center was very pleased to welcome Dr. Esther H. Chang as a speaker in the 2006-2007 Gene Therapy Center Seminar Series. Dr. Chang is a Professor of Oncology and Otolaryngology at the Georgetown University Medical Center, and a program leader at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, D.C. Her research efforts focus primarily on the molecular mechanisms of carcinogenesis, and in translating this basic information into new clinical modalities. Specifically, Dr. Chang is interested in the genetic basis of cancer and mainly focuses on tumor suppressor genes p53 and Rb and oncogenes HER-2, ras and raf. More recently, her research is directed toward improving conventional cancer therapies by combining them with systemic, tumor-targeted gene therapies to down modulate the expression of oncogenes or restore the function of tumor suppressor genes. These innovative therapeutic approaches involve delivery of the molecular therapeutics via vectors that not only home to the primary tumor, but also to the metastases. In January 2007, Dr. Chang and her collaborators filed an Investigational New Drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin clinical trials in patients with head and neck cancer. The cationic liposome that will be the subject of these trials uses transferrin to target tumor cells and the p53 gene to sensitize them to conventional therapy. John L. Marshall, M.D., of the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center, will be the principal investigator on this trial, which will be funded by the NCI, NIDCR and SynerGene Therapeutics of Washington, DC. Dr. Changs's lecture on March 19, 2007 was entitled "Materializing the Potential of Nanomedicine for Cancer Diagnosis and Therapy". Dr. Chang's visit was co-sponsored by the UAB Center for Nanoscale Materials and Biointegration.