| For donors and donation information, click here: www.aans.org/research/make/donor.asp |
Following completion of residency in 2004, Dr. Curry joined the neurosurgical staff at Massachusetts General Hospital. As a member of the Pappas Center for Neuro-oncology, he specializes in the surgical treatment of brain and spinal cord tumors, both malignant and benign. His academic interests center on brain tumor immunology, and he is developing a translational research program in which he is studying the neuro-immunology of primary malignant brain tumors and devising immunotherapeutic strategies for treatment of patients with malignant gliomas and developing clinical trials. Dr. Curry has been working in close collaboration with Glenn Dranoff, MD, at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute.
“Overcoming immunological tolerance to tumor cells is the ultimate goal of cancer immunotherapy,” said Dr. Curry. He added that “Low levels of tumor-cell MHC and an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment allow the growth of cancer cells that escape innate immunity. G207 is a multi-mutated replication-conditional herpes simplex-1 that selectively replicates in tumor cells, has attenuated neuro-virulence, and in addition to its oncolytic properties, is able to stimulate specific and lasting anti-tumor immunity in mice.”
Dr. Curry and his research team propose that pulsing immature dendritic cells with G207-infected tumors cells is a potent activating stimulus for antigen presentation and generation of anti-tumor immunity, to be demonstrated by vaccine treatment in mice bearing subcutaneous and intracranial Neuro2a tumors. They also believe that increasing the number of dendritic cells in tumors, either by co-injection of ex vivo generated cells or by systemic mobilization from the bone marrow by Flt3-L, a growth factor, increases anti-tumor immunity in the context of oncolytic virus infection.
“I became very interested in the anti-tumor immune response that is provoked by oncolytic herpes virus,” said Dr. Curry. “Not only does the virus kill the tumor cells themselves, but also it kicks off an immune response against the tumors. I’m looking at ways of better comprehending that mechanism, and, likewise, augmenting the effect.”
Without the support of the NREF, this research project may not have been funded; brain tumor research requires consistent support and ongoing investigations if scientists hope to understand and provide novel treatments to improve patient care and prolong life. Dr. Curry is one of thousands working toward that end.
Dr. Curry was born in New York, N.Y., and studied as an undergraduate at Harvard University. He graduated from Cornell University Medical College in 1997, after which he began neurosurgery residency at Massachusetts General.
Robert L. Martuza, MD, is chair of the Department of Neurosurgery at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Mass.