Could viruses be used to target and destroy some of the deadliest forms of brain cancer?
That’s the question Fort Lewis College Biology Professor David Blake, Ph.D., will investigate after receiving a Fulbright Award to join an interdisciplinary research team at Aarhus University in Denmark.
Blake will work in the laboratory of David Olagnier, collaborating with chemists, neurosurgeons, oncologists, and pediatric cancer specialists focusing on highly malignant brain cancers, including high-grade glioblastoma and atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumors. These deadly pediatric cancers are known for rapid growth and resistance to treatment leading to death within 5 years or less.
The project builds on preliminary findings from the Olagnier' lab and existing international collaborations. Researchers are exploring how cancer-specific viruses, known as oncolytic viruses, can selectively infect and destroy tumor cells.
“They’re specific for the cancer, so that’s the ‘onco’ part,” Blake said. “And then the ‘lytic’ part is once they infect the cancer cells, they replicate inside and then they’re supposed to destroy the tumor.”
Blake’s work will focus on how immunomodulators influence cellular responses to help improve treatment outcomes. Olagnier’s research examines how cellular defense proteins may make cancer cells more susceptible to viral therapies.
“This work is more important than ever,” said Blake, noting that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Cancer Institute recently ended funding for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium, a national network conducting early-phase clinical trials for pediatric brain cancer treatments.
As part of the project, researchers will use organoid models, three-dimensional clusters of cells grown from tumor samples, to better replicate the complexity of human tumors.
“It’s essentially like taking a bit of the tumor out and then growing it in cell culture,” Blake said. “The organoids are usually little spherical groups of cells that have all different components in it, so it mimics more of the tumor than just growing cells on a piece of plastic.” Blake plans on learning how to culture organoids, then bring this new technique to undergraduate research to Fort Lewis College.
Blake’s research experience aligns with the project’s focus on metabolic compounds and cellular regulation. One shared compound under investigation is sulforaphane, which Blake has studied in other disease contexts.
“It’s a little bit outside of my topic area, but it has relevance using the same types of compounds to turn cells on and off, kind of differentially to fight the cancer,” Blake said.
As part of the Fulbright program, Blake will also teach at Aarhus University’s medical school, working with students to refine scientific writing.
Blake expects to spend approximately six months in Denmark.
Last year, Fort Lewis College was named as a top producer of Fulbright Scholars,