Cancer Therapeutics & Host Response (CTHR)

Mission

The mission of the Cancer Therapeutics and Host Response (CTHR) program is to define mechanisms regulating host responses to tumor progression and advance novel therapeutic treatments for patients with cancer.

Aims

• Interrogate the interplay between microorganisms and host immune cells in tumor response and resistance to standard and experimental therapies

• Conduct first-in-human therapeutic clinical trials for refractory malignancies

• Advance novel therapeutics targeting host or microbiota activities through a preclinical to clinical development pathway

• Promote interactive research

Program Co-Leaders

Christian Jobin, Ph.D., is a tenured professor of medicine in the University of Florida College of Medicines’ division of gastroenterology, hepatology and nutrition. He has a dual appointment with the department of infectious diseases and pathology at UF and the UF College of Veterinary Medicine.

Dr. Jobin received his Ph.D. in immunology-microbiology from Laval University in Quebec and completed his fellowship at Hôspital Saint-François d’Assise, Laval University.

Dr. Jobin is interested in bacteria/host interactions and ensuring innate/immunological responses during health and diseases. He studies the differential contribution of bacteria in protecting or exacerbating development of colitis and colorectal cancer. Dr. Jobin has contributed to the understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanism regulating host response to bacterial colonization, and has published numerous papers on innate signaling events taking place in the intestine and how these impact intestinal homeostasis. Click here for information on Dr. Jobin’s  research lab.

He is a member of several professional societies, including the American Gastroenterological Association, the Mucosal Immunology Association, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the American Association of Immunologists.

Duane A. Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D., is the Phyllis Kottler Friedman professor in the department of neurosurgery at UF and the State of Florida Endowed Cancer Research Chair at the UF College of Medicine. He also serves as co-director of the Preston A. Wells Jr. Center for Brain Tumor Therapy and director of the UF Brain Tumor Immunotherapy Program.

In 2013, Dr. Mitchell joined the University of Florida faculty and leads a comprehensive brain tumor program focused on translational research. He has considerable clinical and translational research experience having served as principal investigator on seven first-in-human protocols through FDA-approved clinical trials. The goal of these trials is to see improvements in patient outcomes using novel approaches that stimulate immune responses against malignant brain tumor cells in combination with current standard treatments. Dr. Mitchell’s research team will expand upon early successes observed in these personalized cancer treatment approaches, and offer unique clinical options at UF for adult and pediatric patients diagnosed with malignant brain tumors.

Dr. Mitchell currently serves as a chartered member of the NIH study section on Cancer Immunopathology and Immunotherapy, Chair of the NCI Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium Immunotherapy Committee, member of the NCI Brain Malignancy Steering Committee Immunotherapy Working Group, and as gubernatorial appointee to the Florida Center for Brain Tumor Research Scientific Advisory Council. His work is supported by the Department of Defense, the National Cancer Institute, the National Institute of Neurologic Diseases and Stroke, and several private funding agencies.

Program Members
To request an update, please email ResearchAdmin@cancer.ufl.edu.