Tumor Virology

The Tumor Virology Program of the Cancer Center was initated by Dr. James Alwine in 1993 in an attempt to bring virologists from different programs and departments within the University of Pennsylvania together to stimulate interactions and discussions. An increase in the need for this program became evident with the more recent discovery that Kaposi's sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV/HHV-8) was strongly associated with greater than 50% of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas. Research on tumor viruses is linked by studies elucidating the role of specific viruses as an essential requirement or as a critical cofacctor in the development of human cancers. Research on tumor viruses at Penn includes investigators from the Medical School, Dental School and the Wistar Institute studying the basic mechanisms of tumorigenesis, clinical implications of tumor viruses and translational approaches to the development of therapies for the treatment of virus associated human cancers.

Tumor Virology Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania

James Alwine	Effects of tumor viruses on cell signaling and metabolism
Kyong-Mi Chang	Hepatitis C virus (HCV); immune responses
Nigel Fraser	HSV; oncolytic virus for treatment of brain tumors
Paul Lieberman	Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) and Kaposi's Sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV): genome maintenance, latency, and reactivation
Robert Ricciardi	Viral oncogenes; NF-kB immune-master regulator; processivity factors, therapeutics
Erle Robertson	Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV); Kaposi's Sarcoma associated herpesvirus (KSHV); lymphomas
Susan Ross	Transforming retroviruses; mouse mammary tumor virus; murine leukemia virus
Matthew Weitzman	Virus-host interactions; replication and restriction of DNA viruses; gene delivery vectors
Jianxin You	HPV Episome maintenance; persistent infection and tumorigenesis
Yan Yuan	KSHV gene regulation, DNA replication and development of antiviral therapeutics