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Odette Cancer Program

SRI programs

Jean Gariépy, PhD

Senior scientist

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
2075 Bayview Ave., Room M7 434
Toronto, ON
M4N 3M5

Phone: 416-480-5710
Fax: 416-480-5714

Administrative Assistant: Kim Allen
Phone: 416-480-6100 ext. 65718
Email: kimberly.allen@sunnybrook.ca

Education:

  • B.Sc., 1978, biochemistry specialization, Concordia University, Canada
  • PhD, 1983, biochemistry, University of Alberta, Canada 
  • Postdoctoral fellow, 1986, medical microbiology, Stanford University, U.S.

Appointments and Affiliations:

  • Senior scientist, Physical Sciences, Odette Cancer Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
  • SRI Research Chair in Biomolecular Engineering
  • Professor, department of medical biophysics, University of Toronto
  • Professor (cross-appointment), department of pharmaceutical sciences, University of Toronto

Research Foci:

  • Aptamers as therapeutics
  • Protein therapeutics
  • Cancer vaccines
  • Immune checkpoint therapies
  • Anti-inflammatory agents
  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors for cancer therapy
  • Designing novel diagnostic approaches

Research Summary:

Biotherapies including immunotherapies have had a dramatic impact in terms of patient survival and enhanced quality of life in the areas of inflammatory diseases and cancer. Dr. Gariépy’s laboratory is interested in the design and engineering of protein- and oligonucleotide-based therapeutics aimed at modulating immune responses to either selectively dampen them (anti-inflammatory agents) or release such responses (to target and kill cancer cells). His lab creates and tests such agents by combining synthetic, combinatorial and genetic approaches with cellular assays and animal studies. The team also designs probes and devises new methods that can serve as new diagnostic or discovery tools. Additionally, they collaborate with clinicians and scientists at Sunnybrook Research Institute and elsewhere in the world as what they do is applicable to any disease.

Selected Publications:

See current publications list at PubMed.

  1. Prodeus A, Abdul-Wahid A, Sparkes A, Fischer NW, Cydzik M, Chiang N, Alwash M, Ferzoco A, Vacaresse N, Julius M, Gorczysnki RM, and Gariépy J. VISTA.COMP: an engineered checkpoint receptor agonist that potently suppresses T-cell mediated immune responses. JCI Insight 2017 (in press).
  2. Fischer NW, Prodeus A, Malkin D, Gariépy J. p53 oligomerization status modulates cell fate decisions between growth, arrest and apoptosis. Cell Cycle. 2016 Dec;15(23):3210–3219.
  3. Abdul-Wahid A, Cydzik M, Prodeus A, Alwash M, Stanojcic M, Thompson M, Huang EH, Shively JE, Gray-Owen SD, Gariépy J.Induction of antigen-specific TH 9 immunity accompanied by mast cell activation blocks tumor cell engraftment. Int J Cancer. 2016 Aug 15;139(4):841–53
  4. Cydzik M, Abdul-Wahid A, Park S, Bourdeau A, Bowden K, Prodeus A, Kollara A, Brown TJ, Ringuette MJ, Gariépy J. Slow binding kinetics of secreted protein, acidic, rich in cysteine-VEGF interaction limit VEGF activation of VEGF receptor 2 and attenuate angiogenesis. FASEB J. 2015 Aug;29(8):3493–505.
  5. Prodeus A, Abdul-Wahid A, Fischer NW, Huang EH, Cydzik M, Gariépy J. Targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 Immune Evasion Axis With DNA Aptamers as a Novel Therapeutic Strategy for the Treatment of Disseminated Cancers. Mol Ther Nucleic Acids. 2015 Apr 28;4:e237. 

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