More information and a recording of the talk is available below.

For questions about this event, please reach out to Mary Christie at mchristie@health.missouri.edu

"Custom pre-clinical pig models for cancer research”

Presented by:

Bhanu Telugu, PhD – Associate Professor, Animal Sciences Research Center
Kiho Lee, PhD – Associate Professor, Animal Sciences Research Center

Date: Thursday, February 17, 2022, 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Description

In this presentation, Dr. Telugu introduced the need for revisiting the current paradigm for cancer research. Specifically, he outlined the advantages of using pig models, the recent development of genome editing tools that facilitate generation of custom-humanized pig models for developing novel therapeutics. He concluded his discussion with two pig models -onco/oncoreporter pigs that are currently in development and/or in use for cancer research here at Mizzou. Then, Dr. Lee shared the latest research on the development of immunodeficient pigs and how the pigs are being used to model human cancer patients and explore novel treatment options.

Speaker Bio

Dr. Telugu is an Associate Professor in the Division of Animal Sciences at University of Missouri. He is also a founding member, President & CSO at RenOVAte Biosciences Inc (www.renovatebiosciences.com), a livestock genetic engineering company. Primary research interests of his laboratory and his company include Genetic engineering of livestock for agricultural and biomedical applications. The laboratory employs advanced genome editing tools such as CRISPR/cas system for site-specifically modifying the pig genomes and generating custom preclinical pig models for developing novel therapeutics.

Dr. Kiho Lee graduated from Seoul National University with a Bachelor's degree in Animal Sciences. Then, he received MS and PhD from Purdue University, and Postdoc training from University of Missouri-Columbia. While at University of Missouri, he generated first immune-deficient pigs that could support growth and proliferation of human induced pluripotent stem cells. He is currently an Associate professor in the Division of Animal Sciences at University of Missouri. Dr. Lee’s lab currently focuses on designing genetically engineered large animal models for agriculture and biomedicine.