SUMMARY
Autumn J. Schulze, Ph.D., is a Mayo Clinic molecular medicine researcher who develops new oncolytic picornaviruses for clinical translation. Dr. Schulze mainly studies RNA-based therapeutics, including the formulation of oncolytic picornavirus therapeutics as infectious RNA. Oncolytic picornaviruses are anticancer therapeutic agents that infect and lyse cancer cells.
Her work includes:
- Understanding the basic biology of picornaviruses.
- Identifying host-virus interactions that influence therapeutic efficacy and developing mechanisms to regulate them.
- Evaluating the impact of pharmacological, viral and nonviral combination therapies on anticancer activity in vivo.
Dr. Schulze uses a variety of molecular biology, biochemical and immunological experimental approaches to develop and characterize new therapeutics. She and her research team mainly use murine mouse models for in vivo evaluation of new and combined therapies.
Focus areas
- Regulating picornavirus tropism to enhance safety through microRNA-detargeting, internal ribosome entry site switching, and manipulation of virulence elements.
- Enhancing the potency of oncolytic picornaviruses through a combination with picornavirus replicons encoding immunomodulatory genes, chemotherapeutics, immune checkpoint blockade therapies, and mRNA-based therapeutics.
- Developing nonviral delivery vehicles for RNA-based therapeutics.
- Developing clinical-grade infectious RNA production and purification.
- Investigating the impact of infectious RNA modification and purification processes on immunogenicity and therapeutic efficacy.
- Elucidating key interactions between viral biological elements, such as polycytidine tracts, and host cell proteins or RNA that impact viral pathogenesis and therapeutic efficacy.
Significance to patient care
The therapeutic potential of oncolytic viruses as anticancer treatments has been clearly demonstrated in clinical investigations. However, the response rates are highly variable. Enhancing the overall efficacy of therapies is important, but it requires a thorough analysis of virus biology, toxicology and preclinical investigation in appropriate models to ensure safety and clinical relevancy.
Dr. Schulze and her research team's development of novel picornavirus therapies and enhancement of the potency of coxsackievirus A21, which is a virus with demonstrated clinical activity, are driving the oncolytic viro-immunotherapy field toward the goal of finding cures and improving quality of life.
Professional highlights
- Mayo Clinic:
- Director, Virology and Gene Therapy Graduate Program, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science, 2021-present.
- Member, Manufacturing Quality and Compliance Subcommittee, 2021-present.
- Member, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 2020-present.
- Secretary, Associate Consultant Council, 2019-present.
- Member, Student Life and Wellness Committee, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 2018-present.
- Director, Gene and Virus Therapy Shared Resource, Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, 2021-2024.
- Member, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy, 2021-present.