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Faculty Detail    
Name GEORGE YANCEY GILLESPIE
  
Campus Address VH 668B
Phone  (205) 975-0438
E-mail  yancey@uab.edu
Other websites
     


Faculty Appointment(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center  Comprehensive Cancer Center Professor Emeritus
Center  General Clinical Research Center  Ctr for Clinical & Translational Sci Professor Emeritus
Primary  Neurosurgery   Neurosurg-Laboratory Research Professor Emeritus

Graduate Biomedical Sciences Affiliations
Cancer Biology 
Microbiology 
Neuroscience Graduate Program 
Neurosciences 

Biographical Sketch 
Dr. Gillespie obtained B.A. (biology & chemistry), M.Sc. (cytogenetics) and Ph.D. (immunology & immunogenetics) degrees at the University of Mississippi, finishing in 1971. Following a NCI postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Kansas Medical Center, he joined the Department of Pathology. In 1975, he joined Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla. In 1977, he moved as Assistant Professor of Pathology to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. In 1977, he transferred to the Department of Surgery, Division of Neurosurgery to direct the Brain Tumor Immunology research program. In 1986, Dr. Gillespie came to UAB as tenured Associate Professor of Surgery to direct brain tumor research efforts in the Division of Neurosurgery. He is Professor of Surgery with secondary appointments in Departments of Microbiology and Cell, Developmental & Integrative Biology. Dr. Gillespie is Director of the UAB Brain Tumor SPORE, and Co-Leader of Neuro-Oncology Program of the Comprehensive Cancer Center. He directs both the Brain Tumor Tissue and Brain Tumor Animal Models Core Facilities funded by the SPORE.

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
Society for Neuro-Oncology    http://www.sno.org/ 
American Society of Gene Therapy    http://www.asgt.org/ 
Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer    http://www.sitc.org/ 
American Association for the Advancement of Science    http://www.aaas.org 
American Society of Investigative Pathology    http://www.asip.org/ 
American Association of Immunologists    http://www.aai.org/ 
American Association for Cancer Research    http://www.aacr.org/ 
American Society for Microbiology    Http://www.asmusa.org/ 
 



Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Molecular and Viral Therapy of Malignant Primary Brain Tumors
Description
The main thrust of my research is to develop and test specific therapies for treatment of malignant brain tumors in adults and children. One current focus is construction of replication conditional herpes simplex viruses that are both oncolytic for glioma cells and express foreign therapeutic genes. Gene transfer includes a wide range of cytokines (IL-2, -4, -5, 10, -12, GM-CSF) and pro-drug converting enzymes. Oncolytic activities are validated by in vitro assays first before being advanced to safety and efficacy assessment in a variety of murine models of intracranial malignant gliomas and medulloblastomas. Animal models include transplantable intracranial gliomas of human origin (in immunocompromised scid or nude mice) or mouse origin (in syngeneic conventional mice). Vectors that are to be advanced to clinical trials are tested for neurotoxicity in non-human primates. Dr. Gillespie has acquired and generated a panel of 35+ human GBM xenolines, established directly in immunocompromised mice from surgical specimens. These xenolines have been genomically, transcriptomically and kinomically profiled providing a unique resource for preclinical evaluation of a wide variety of potential therapeutic modalities. For example,small molecules that exert an inhibitory or anti-angiogenic effects on glioma cells or tumor neovasculature are being evaluated as therapeutic agents in vitro and in these patient-like animal models of malignant brain tumors.

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Northcott PA, Shih DJ, Peacock J, Garzia L, Morrissy AS, Zichner T, Stütz AM, Korshunov A, Reimand J, Schumacher SE, Beroukhim R, Ellison DW, Marshall CR, Lionel AC, Mack S, Dubuc A, Yao Y, Ramaswamy V, Luu B, Rolider A, Cavalli FM, Wang X, Remke M, Wu X, Chiu RY, Chu A, Chuah E, Corbett RD, Hoad GR, Jackman SD, Li Y, Lo A, Mungall KL, Nip KM, Qian JQ, Raymond AG, Thiessen NT, Varhol RJ, Birol I, Moore RA, Mungall AJ, Holt R, Kawauchi D, Roussel MF, Kool M, Jones DT, Witt H, Fernandez-L A, Kenney AM, Wechsler-Reya RJ, Dirks P, Aviv T, Grajkowska WA, Perek-Polnik M, Haberler CC, Delattre O, Reynaud SS, Doz FF, Pernet-Fattet SS, Cho BK, Kim SK, Wang KC, Scheurlen W, Eberhart CG, Fèvre-Montange M, Jouvet A, Pollack IF, Fan X, Muraszko KM, Gillespie GY, Di Rocco C, Massimi L, Michiels EM, Kloosterhof NK, French PJ, Kros JM, Olson JM, Ellenbogen RG, Zitterbart K, Kren L, Thompson RC, Cooper MK, Lach B, McLendon RE, Bigner DD, Fontebasso A, Albrecht S, Jabado N, Lindsey JC, Bailey S, Gupta N, Weiss WA, Bognár L, Klekner A, Van Meter TE, Kumabe T, Tominaga T, Elbabaa SK, Leonard JR, Rubin JB, Liau LM, Van Meir EG, Fouladi M, Nakamura H, Cinalli G, Garami M, Hauser P, Saad AG, Iolascon A, Jung S, Carlotti CG, Vibhakar R, Ra YS, Robinson S, Zollo M, Faria CC, Chan JA, Levy ML, Sorensen PH, Meyerson M, Pomeroy SL, Cho YJ, Bader GD, Tabori U, Hawkins CE, Bouffet E, Scherer SW, Rutka JT, Malkin D, Clifford SC, Jones SJ, Korbel JO, Pfister SM, Marra MA, Taylor MD. Subgroup-specific structural variation across 1,000 medulloblastoma genomes. Nature. 2012 Aug 2;488(7409):49-56.  22832581 
Friedman GK, Haas MC, Kelly VM, Markert JM, Gillespie GY, Cassady KA. Hypoxia Moderates γ(1)34.5-Deleted Herpes Simplex Virus Oncolytic Activity in Human Glioma Xenoline Primary Cultures. Transl Oncol. 2012 Jun;5(3):200-7.   22741039 
Jarboe JS, Anderson JC, Duarte CW, Mehta T, Nowsheen S, Hicks PH, Whitley AC, Rohrbach TD, McCubrey RO, Chiu S, Burleson TM, Bonner JA, Gillespie GY, Yang ES, Willey CD. MARCKS regulates growth and radiation sensitivity and is a novel prognostic factor for glioma. Clin Cancer Res. 2012 Jun 1;18(11):3030-41.  22619307 
Friedman GK, Cassady KA, Beierle EA, Markert JM, Gillespie GY. Targeting pediatric cancer stem cells with oncolytic virotherapy. Pediatr Res. 2012 71(4 Pt 2):500-10.   22430386 
Pressey JG, Haas MC, Pressey CS, Kelly VM, Parker JN, Gillespie GY, Friedman GK. CD133 marks a myogenically primitive subpopulation in rhabdomyosarcoma cell lines that are relatively chemoresistant but sensitive to mutant HSV. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2012 Mar 9. doi: 10.1002/pbc.24117. [Epub ahead of print]  22408058 
Markert JM, Cody JJ, Parker JN, Coleman JM, Price KH, Kern ER, Quenelle DC, Lakeman AD, Schoeb TR, Palmer CA, Cartner SC, Gillespie GY, Whitley RJ. Preclinical evaluation of a genetically engineered herpes simplex virus expressing interleukin-12. J Virol. 2012; 86(9):5304-13.  22379082 
Duarte CW, Willey CD, Zhi D, Cui X, Harris JJ, Vaughan LK, Mehta T, McCubrey RO, Khodarev NN, Weichselbaum RR, Gillespie GY. Expression signature of IFN/STAT1 signaling genes predicts poor survival outcome in glioblastoma multiforme in a subtype-specific manner. PLoS One. 2012;7(1):e29653.   22242177 
McFarland BC, Ma JY, Langford CP, Gillespie GY, Yu H, Zheng Y, Nozell SE, Huszar D, Benveniste EN. Therapeutic potential of AZD1480 for the treatment of human glioblastoma. Mol Cancer Ther. 2011; 10(12):2384-93.   22027691 
Oliva CR, Moellering DR, Gillespie GY, Griguer CE. Acquisition of chemoresistance in gliomas is associated with increased mitochondrial coupling and decreased ROS production. PLoS One. 2011;6(9):e24665.   21931801 
Wang D, Olman MA, Stewart J Jr, Tipps R, Huang P, Sanders PW, Toline E, Prayson RA, Lee J, Weil RJ, Palmer CA, Gillespie GY, Liu WM, Pieper RO, Guan JL, Gladson CL. Downregulation of FIP200 induces apoptosis of glioblastoma cells and microvascular endothelial cells by enhancing Pyk2 activity. PLoS One. 2011;6(5):e19629.  21602932 
Advani SJ, Markert JM, Sood RF, Samuel S, Gillespie GY, Shao MY, Roizman B, Weichselbaum RR. Increased oncolytic efficacy for high-grade gliomas by optimal integration of ionizing radiation into the replicative cycle of HSV-1. Gene Ther. 2011 Nov;18(11):1098-102. doi: 10.1038/gt.2011.61.   21544094 
Filippova N, Yang X, Wang Y, Gillespie GY, Langford C, King PH, Wheeler C, Nabors LB. The RNA-binding protein HuR promotes glioma growth and treatment resistance. Mol Cancer Res. 2011 May;9(5):648-59.   21498545 
 

Keywords
glioma, brain tumor, oncolytic virus, herpes simplex virus, animal models, immunotherapy, suicide gene therapy, anti-angiogenesis