Mayo Foundation Chapter of Sigma Xi Public Lecture: Gene Therapy

When:  Apr 21, 2015 from 19:30 to 20:30 (CT)


Mayo Foundation Chapter of Sigma Xi Public Lecture

Gene Therapy

 


Lecturer: Christopher H. Evans, PhD, DSc

Christopher H. Evans, PhD, DSc, is Professor and Director of the Rehabilitation Medicine Research Center at Mayo Clinic. He is also Maurice Müller Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery Emeritus at Harvard Medical School. Trained in molecular biology in Europe, Dr. Evans became the inaugural Henry Mankin Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery and Professor, Department of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School. While at the University of Pittsburgh, he obtained an MA in the History and Philosophy of Science. In 1994, he was awarded a DSc by the University of Wales, United Kingdom. Recruited to Harvard Medical School in 1999, he held the Robert Lovett Chair and then the Maurice Müller Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery. He was recruited to Mayo Clinic in 2013. Dr. Evans’s research interests focus on the application of biological therapies, particularly gene therapy, to the treatment of disorders of bones and joints, a field he pioneered. He was principal investigator for the world’s first arthritis gene therapy trial. 

Human DNA contains approximately 20,000 genes that inform the synthesis of specific proteins. Over 4,000 human diseases result from an abnormality in one or other gene. In many cases, the normal gene could provide a cure if it were introduced appropriately into the patient. This logic forms the conceptual basis of gene therapy, which aims to deliver therapeutic genes into patients safely and effectively. Clinical trials have been approved to evaluate gene therapy in over 30 genetic diseases, including hemophilia, muscular dystrophy and sickle cell disease. Although the US Food and Drug Administration has not approved a gene therapy drug, the European Commission recently approved Glybera as gene therapy for a rare genetic disease called lipoprotein lipase deficiency. Use of gene therapy is not restricted to diseases resulting from single-gene defects. The field of cancer gene therapy, for example, is expanding rapidly, and Gendicin, the first gene therapy drug approved anywhere in the world, was developed in China for head and neck cancer. One approach uses modified viruses to kill cancer cells, and a recent study at Mayo Clinic recorded a major advance in this area. Another approach uses genetic modification to stimulate the immune system to kill cancer cells. Gene therapy also has applications in common diseases such as arthritis, in the healing of broken bones, and in the repair of sporting injuries. The World Anti-Doping Agency is concerned about gene doping in sports.


Location

Siebens Building, Phillips Hall, Mayo Medical Center
200 1st Street SW
Rochester, MN 55902