{"id":11079,"date":"2016-09-22T00:00:58","date_gmt":"2016-09-22T07:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vermont.salk.edu\/?post_type=disclosure&p=11079"},"modified":"2016-09-22T10:05:27","modified_gmt":"2016-09-22T17:05:27","slug":"clodagh-oshea-named-hhmi-faculty-scholar-groundbreaking-work-designing-synthetic-viruses-destroy-cancer","status":"publish","type":"disclosure","link":"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/news-release\/clodagh-oshea-named-hhmi-faculty-scholar-groundbreaking-work-designing-synthetic-viruses-destroy-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Clodagh O\u2019Shea named HHMI Faculty Scholar for groundbreaking work in designing synthetic viruses to destroy cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

LA JOLLA\u2014Clodagh O\u2019Shea<\/a>, an associate professor in the Salk Institute\u2019s Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory, is among the first recipients of a grant from the Faculty Scholars Program, a new partnership of Howard Hughes Medical Institute<\/a> (HHMI), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation<\/a> and the Simons Foundation<\/a> for early career researchers whose work shows the potential for groundbreaking contributions in their fields. O\u2019Shea is one of 84 Faculty Scholars who will receive $100,000\u2013$400,000 per year over five years to support their pursuit of innovative research.<\/p>\n

\"2118-Clodagh-O'Shea_0X8C1665\"
Clodagh O’Shea<\/p>\n

Credit: Salk Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

O\u2019Shea is at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies to design synthetic viruses and other genetic devices that are controlled and able to selectively target \u764c\u75c7<\/a> cells. Each time a virus infects a cancer cell and multiplies, the virus kills the cell by bursting it open to release thousands of viral progenies, which go on to target other cancer cells. Synthetic viruses designed to lock onto and rupture cancer cells while leaving normal cells intact could result in a novel cancer therapy with virtually no side effects.<\/p>\n

“Clodagh\u2019s innovative and cutting-edge research has the potential to unlock promising new ways of precisely and effectively targeting cancers and indeed opens new avenues for treating other diseases as well,\u201d said Salk President Elizabeth Blackburn<\/a>. \u201cWe are extremely pleased that her work is being recognized with an inaugural grant from this important program.”<\/p>\n

To successfully redesign and program synthetic viral therapies, O\u2019Shea has developed new technologies that enable viral gene delivery devices, cancer therapies and vaccines to be assembled using libraries of modular DNA parts, akin to using Lego pieces to build a sculpture or robot. O\u2019Shea proposes to further develop these genetic machines as diagnostic \u2018drones\u2019 that identify the earliest traces of cancer; synthetic viruses that act like guided missiles to destroy tumor cells while preventing therapeutic resistance; and viruses that home in on damaged tissues to promote wound healing and stave off infection.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very honored to receive a HHMI faculty scholar award, which we will use to identify critical 3D genomic interactions that are subverted in both viral infection and cancer and the rational design of powerful synthetic viral therapies for the treatment of patients suffering from cancer,\u201d says O\u2019Shea, who is the holder of the William Scandling Developmental Chair.<\/p>\n

Another aspect of O\u2019Shea\u2019s research is to unravel the structural code that determines the functions of DNA in the cell nucleus and if it can be accessed and used. A cell\u2019s genomic material is not a simple helix: DNA is coiled around proteins to form complex three-dimensional packages called chromatin to fit into the small space of a cell nucleus. Charting and determining the structure of chromatin at multiple scales is a vital step in understanding how viruses access genetic material to replicate and kill cells. To this end, her lab is developing new techniques to visualize how genomic material is structured in time and space. These studies have the potential to reveal the structural code that determines if a gene is \u2018on\u2019 or \u2018off\u2019 state in health and disease.<\/p>\n

The program\u2019s support enables O\u2019Shea, who has made dramatic progress in building selectively replicating cancer-killing viruses as well as visualizing chromatin, to further refine her genetic machines and designs to be able to, for example, keep up with a tumor\u2019s constantly molecular variations (heterogeneity), engage a protective immune response and target specific mutations related to hard-to-treat cancers (e.g., p53 mutations).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very excited to welcome these accomplished scientists into the HHMI community,\u201d said HHMI President Erin O\u2019Shea. \u201cWe\u2019re equally gratified to work alongside our philanthropic partners to help these early-career scientists move science forward by pursuing their bold ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Faculty Scholars competition is open to basic researchers and physician scientists at more than 220 eligible institutions who bring innovative approaches to the study of biological problems. Early-career researchers with more than 4, but no more than 10, years of experience as faculty members were eligible to apply for this competition. Read more at HHMI: https:\/\/www.hhmi.org\/news\/philanthropies-announce-selection-faculty-scholars<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"featured_media":6359,"template":"","faculty":[104],"disease-research":[46],"class_list":["post-11079","disclosure","type-disclosure","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","faculty-clodagh-oshea","disease-research-cancer-biology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nClodagh O\u2019Shea named HHMI Faculty Scholar for groundbreaking work in designing synthetic viruses to destroy cancer - Salk Institute for Biological Studies<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.salk.edu\/zh\/news-release\/clodagh-oshea-named-hhmi-faculty-scholar-groundbreaking-work-designing-synthetic-viruses-destroy-cancer\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_CN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Clodagh O\u2019Shea named HHMI Faculty Scholar for groundbreaking work in designing synthetic viruses to destroy cancer - Salk Institute for Biological Studies\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LA JOLLA\u2014Clodagh O\u2019Shea, an associate professor in the Salk Institute\u2019s Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory, is among the first recipients of a grant from the Faculty Scholars Program, a new partnership of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Simons Foundation for early career researchers whose work shows the potential for groundbreaking contributions in their fields. 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