Location:
Level 6, Seminar Room Wallace Wurth Building UNSW Australia Sydney NSW 2052
Open to
All
Contact for enquiries
Rata Joseph +61 (0)2 9385 0900 rjoseph@kirby.unsw.edu.au
The Kirby Institute is pleased to present:
Dr Mark Polizzotto -Kirby Institute / St Vincent's Hospital
"Targeting viral and immune pathways in HIV associated malignancies."
Tuesday 2nd February 2016
Seminar: 1pm-2pm
Lunch will be served from 12.30 outside the seminar room on level 6. Please RSVP to rjoseph@kirby.unsw.edu.au by COB Monday 1st February 2016 for catering purposes and requirements.
Abstract:
Cancers are now the leading cause of death among people with HIV, despite effective antiretroviral therapies, and pose a major clinical and scientific challenge. Defects in immunity appear to drive much of the excess cancer risk in this group, and malignancies caused by oncogenic viruses are prominent. Emerging anti-cancer therapies targeting immune surveillance of malignancy and implicated viruses thus offer a pivotal opportunity to develop therapies targeted to the specific pathogenesis of cancers in people with HIV. Clinical trials specific to this population are of particular importance: people with HIV are routinely excluded from standard cancer clinical trials, while translational studies incorporated within such trials may help answer fundamental questions about oncogenesis and HIV pathogenesis.
Bio:
Mark is a consultant haematologist who holds a joint appointment with the Kirby Institute and St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney. His clinical and research interests lie at the intersection of immunity and malignancy, particularly cancers in people with HIV. He leads the joint Kirby and St Vincent’s clinical trial program in HIV-associated malignancies and is principal investigator of the NCI AIDS Malignancy Consortium Australian site, their first core site outside the United States.