Our Science – Whitby Website

Denise Whitby, Ph.D.

AIDS and Cancer Virus Program Head, Viral Oncology Section Senior Investigator (Contr) SAIC-Frederick, Inc. NCI-Frederick Building 535, Suite 412 Frederick, MD 21702-1201 Phone:   301-846-1714 Fax:   301-846-7119 E-Mail:   whitbyd@ncifcrf.gov

Biography

Denise Whitby received her PhD from the Institute of Cancer Research, University of London, UK. She joined the AIDS Vaccine Program in 1999 where she is head of the Viral Oncology Section.

Research

The overall aim of the Viral Oncology Section is to study the role of viruses in cancer. Our studies are focused in three major areas: Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) and related malignancies, the role of viruses in the etiology of lymphoma and the lastly the search for new cancer causing viruses.

KSHV is a gammaherpesvirus discovered in 1994 that causes Kaposi's sarcoma, primary effusion lymphoma and multicentric Castleman's disease. Kaposi's sarcoma is a notable AIDS associated cancer and also occurs in HIV negative subjects (Classic KS) with a distinct geographic distribution, being rare in Asia, the US and most of Europe and relatively common in areas of the Mediterranean and sub-Saharan Africa. Our studies on KSHV include large epidemiological studies, molecular virology and translational research with a focus on the role of reactivation in transmission and pathogenesis. Related research on viral evolution and recombination includes variations in the recently described virally encoded microRNAs with functional potential

KSHV and EBV are lymphotropic viruses that are important causes of lymphomas especially in AIDS patients. We have developed whole genome viral expression arrays for KSHV and EBV and used these to study changes in viral gene expression during reactivation in lymphoma cell lines as well as in translational studies. We have developed in vitro models for studying the role of KSHV and EBV in lymphomagenesis and KSHV in KS transmission. In addition I am studying the etiology of lymphoma in the context of several large international case control studies and serve as co-chair of the infectious disease sub-group of the Interlymph consortium of case control studies of lymphoma.

It has been estimated that 15% of human cancer is attributable to known infectious causes. There remain other malignancies where epidemiological evidence suggests an infectious etiology but the agent remains unknown. The potential benefits to public health and cancer research of discovering additional oncogenic viruses are substantial, but the difficulties of conducting research to achieve this goal are equally substantial. My lab has developed a number of techniques to search for oncogenic viruses including consensus PCR assays for herpesviruses and retroviruses and most recently, a microarray printed with oligos from 655 mammalian and avian viruses from 135 viral genera. On average, each virus is represented by 10-20 individual features distributed across both conserved and unique regions of each viral genome. This array is a powerful tool for virus discovery that may have additional translational potential.

This page was last updated on 7/23/2008.