MISSION

New technologies have emerged in recent years to precisely modify human cells to correct defects, a paradigm that could lead to transformative new therapies and cures in the near future. While these have been demonstrated in laboratory cell lines, and in some cases in small animal models, very few have been translated into human therapies. The principal barrier has been the difficulty to engineer large therapeutic payloads (proteins and nucleic acids) into a viral vector and target them, safely and efficiently, into specific cells. The Bacteriophage Medical Research Center will make this a reality, using unique bacteriophage T4-based technologies developed in our research laboratory over the past 30-years. The mission of the center is to develop bacteriophage T4-inspired nanodevices to deliver vaccines, genes, and therapeutic components into human cells for correcting genetic defects (gene therapy), producing antigens and antibodies (immunotherapy), killing cancer cells (cancer therapy), and repairing hematopoietic stem cells (stem cell therapy).