Infecting Cancer: How Viruses Are Turning the Tide against Tumors

One of the most exciting areas of recent advancement in immunotherapy involves an unlikely ally: viruses. While some viruses can cause cancer, others—those that are relatively safer—have recently been re-purposed to attack tumors. 

In this webinar, John Bell, Ph.D., discusses strategies that re-program viruses so that they selectively infect and kill cancer cells while leaving healthy cells and tissues unharmed. These oncolytic viruses can provide an important boost to the immune system and enhance the effectiveness of other immunotherapies.

In addition to being a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Dr. Bell is the director of the Ontario Regional Biotherapeutics Program at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research; a professor in the departments of medicine and biochemistry, microbiology, and immunology at the University of Ottawa; and the director of the Canadian Oncolytic Virus Consortium. He has participated and chaired grants panels for several research granting agencies and been a member of the Canadian Cancer Society boards of directors. In his lab, Dr. Bell specializes in discovering and designing new therapeutic viruses, and has led efforts to translate oncolytic virus approaches to the clinic, where these strategies have begun to show great benefit for patients with diverse types of cancer.

The "Cancer Immunotherapy and You" webinar series is produced by the Cancer Research Institute and is made possible with generous support from Bristol-Myers Squibb, with additional support from Regeneron, Sanofi Genzyme, and Adaptimmune.

Browse our Cancer Immunotherapy and You Webinar Series playlist on YouTube or visit the Webinars page on our website to see other webinars in this series.