Viroimmunotherapy Laboratory

Our laboratories are involved in basic and translational research with the ultimate goal of finding a cure for patients with malignant gliomas and brain metastases. More specifically, over the next five years, our research will be focused on understanding the immune mechanisms underlying the anti-tumor immune response to improve the anti-cancer effect of oncolytic adenoviruses and to generate innovative cancer vaccines. We are also interested in ascertaining the role that immune checkpoint proteins and other immunomodulators play in shielding glioma cells from the immune system. We aim to determine how tumor-selective viruses may be utilized to prevent tumor escape from a therapeutic immune response. Other projects include studies on redirecting the immune response elicited by the virus towards the tumor and examining the role of the microbiome in the response of patients to viroimmunotherapy.