Biography
Dr. Eric Bartee holds a doctorate in Microbiology and Immunology from Oregon Health and Sciences University. He studies host-virus interactions and is particularly interested in how these interactions can be used to improve therapies for cancer patients. Dr. Bartee?s lab has developed a variety of recombinant myxoma viruses which display improved therapeutic efficacy against tumors and are preparing for clinical testing.
Personal Statement
My interests as a scientist involve the study of virus-host interactions with particular interest paid to how these interactions can be used to improve therapy for cancer patients, a field known as oncolytic virotherapy. Oncolytics combines two powerful strategies into a single treatment. In the initial steps, a patient is intentionally infected with a virus which preferentially infects and kills cancer cells. These viruses identify and replicate specifically in transformed cancer cells resulting in the generation of new infectious virus. This newly replicated virus subsequently spreads to adjoining cancer cells where the process repeats resulting in a tumor localized cascade of viral infection. This process, known as direct oncolytics, causes the elimination of virtually all directly infected cancer cells resulting in a swift reduction in tumor size. During this process, oncolytic viral infection also induces localized inflammation and the recruitment of an adaptive T cell response. While this T cell response is initially generated to combat the viral infection, once begun, tumor infiltrating T cells also respond to non-viral peptides within the tumor, including tumor specific antigens, through the process of epitope spreading. This results in the generation of not only a primary anti-viral immune response, but also a secondary immune response against the tumor itself. The generation and propagation of this anti-tumor immune response, a process known as oncolytic immunotherapy, can have powerful clinical benefits including the complete eradication of both local and metastatic disease.
While the oncolytic phenomenon has been observed using a wide variety of viruses, our lab is primarily focused on the therapeutic potential of a virus known as myxoma. Myxoma is a member of the poxvirus family whose natural infection is strictly limited to rabbits. In the European rabbit myxoma causes an incredibly lethal disease known as myxomatosis; however, the virus is unable to cause disease in any other known species due to its inability to counteract non-rabbit innate immune responses. In non-rabbit hosts, this restricts myxoma replication to cells where these responses are either absent or defective, a state which occurs almost exclusively in transformed cancer cells. This naturally occurring cancer tropism allows myxoma to effectively treat a wide variety of cancers including: skin cancer, pancreatic cancer, brain cancer, head and neck cancers, and various cancers of the blood. Unfortunately, while these treatments show significant promise in preclinical trials, they are often not curative, necessitating that methods be identified to improve the clinical potential of this agent. To this end, our lab is currently working on a variety of projects designed to improve the oncolytic potential of the myxoma virus. "
Areas of Specialty
virus-host interactions
oncolytic virotherapy
Achievements & Awards
2021 Awarded Endowed Professor: Dana C. Wood Professor in Cancer Immunotherapy
2018 Nominated: Best Teacher College of Graduate Studies, MUSC
2017 Developing Scholar Award - Medical University of South Carolina
2012 Best Presentation Award, Leukemia and Lymphoma Symposium, Uni. of Florida
2007 Outstanding Journal Article of the Year: OHSU School of Medicine
2005-2007 Ruth L Kirschstein NRSA Fellow
2004-2005 N.L. Tarter Research Fellow
2004 Paper Awarded #1 Hidden Gem: Faculty of 1000 website.
2002 Best Poster Award: Oregon Health and Sciences Student Research Forum
Key Publications
Journal Article
Bartee, M, Y Dunlap, K, M Bartee, Eric, 2017 Tumor-Localized Secretion of Soluble PD1 Enhances Oncolytic Virotherapy. Cancer research, vol. 77, Issue 11, 2952-2963
Gender
Male
Languages
- English
Courses Taught
2022
BioM-505: Cancer Biology
Position: Course Director and Lecturer
Learners: 12
Contact Hours: 45
Description: I gave 11 lectures to the class and attended every lecture.
2021
BioM-505: Cancer Biology
Position: Course Director and Lecturer
Learners: 12
Contact Hours: 45
Description: I gave 6 lectures to the class and attended every lecture.
2020
BioM-505: Cancer Biology
Position: Lecturer
Learners: 12
Contact Hours: 6
Description: I gave one lecture to the class on oncolytic immunotherapy and led a separate class discussion on this topic. I also attended the previous two lectures on immunotherapy to assist with discussion.
2019
CGS-774: Hosts and Microbes: Partners and Pathogens
Position: Co-Course Director and Lecturer
Learners: 10
Contact Hours: 30
Description: As a lecturer I gave two lectures on cellular sensing of viral infection and the determinants of viral tropism. As co-course director I attended all 15 classes and facilitated the in class discussion.
CGS-784: Immunobiology
Position: Lecturer
Learners: 11
Contact Hours: 4
Description: As a lecturer I gave two lectures on antigen presentation and the overall course of an anti-microbial immune response.
2018
CGS-774: Hosts and Microbes: Partners and Pathogens
Position: Co-Course Director and Lecturer
Learners: 11
Contact Hours: 30
Description: As a lecturer I gave two lectures on cellular sensing of viral infection and the determinants of viral tropism. As co-course director I attended all 15 classes and facilitated the in class discussion.
CGS-784: Immunobiology
Position: Lecturer
Learners: 11
Contact Hours: 4
Description: As a lecturer I gave two lectures on antigen presentation and the overall course of an anti-microbial immune response.
2017
CGS-774: Hosts and Microbes: Partners and Pathogens
Position: Co-Course Director and Lecturer
Learners: 4
Contact Hours: 30
Description: As a lecturer I gave two lectures on cellular sensing of viral infection and the determinants of viral tropism. As co-course director I attended all 15 classes and facilitated the in class discussion.
CGS-784: Immunobiology
Position: Lecturer
Learners: 11
Contact Hours: 4
Description: As a lecturer I gave two lectures on antigen presentation and the overall course of an anti-microbial immune response.
2016
MBIM-735: Advanced Immunology
Position: Lecturer
Learners: 15
Contact Hours: 2
Description: As a lecturer, I gave a single lecture on the immunology involved in oncolytic immunotherapy.
2015
MBIM-735: Advanced Immunology
Position: Lecturer
Learners: 12
Contact Hours: 2
Description: As a lecturer, I gave a single lecture on the immunology involved in oncolytic immunotherapy.
MBIM-738: Methods in Microbiology Course
Position: Co-Course Director and Lecturer
Learners: 9
Contact Hours: 4
Description: As a lecturer, I gave two lectures on the methods used in quantitative PCR and the study of molecular virology. As course director, I administered the homework sets and final exam for the second half of the course.
2014
MBIM-738: Methods in Microbiology Course
Position: Lecturer
Learners: 11
Contact Hours: 2
Description: As a lecturer, I gave a single lectures on the methods used in the study of molecular virology.
2013
MBIM-738: Methods in Microbiology Course
Position: Lecturer
Learners: 6
Contact Hours: 2
Description: As a lecturer, I gave a single lectures on the methods used in the study of molecular virology.