AHN Forum "Canine Lymphoma - Breakthrough Therapies for Pets and People"

Join us on May 24th for an Animal Health and Nutrition Forum at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center in RTP. Recent advances in immunotherapy offer an opportunity to tackle many of the most difficult human cancers. However, many questions remain to be answered. Dogs, often suffering from the same diseases, also lack sufficient life-saving treatments. Now, as we develop therapies to treat our companions, we have the opportunity to learn how to treat ourselves.

Featured Speakers

Paul R Hess, DVM Ph.D. Diplomate ACVIM (SAIM, O) - Associate Professor, Oncology & Immunology

"Practical immunotherapy for canine lymphomas: Why? How? When?"

Paul Hess received a DVM from Mississippi State University and a Ph.D. in Immunology from NC State. He performed residencies in Small Animal Internal Medicine and Oncology at NC State and is board-certified in both specialties. He trained as a post-doc under Jeff Frelinger at UNC-Chapel Hill. His clinical interests are canine hematologic cancers. His lab studies T-cell-based immunotherapies, using spontaneous cancers of dogs and cats in a comparative oncology approach. So, what's the goal? In short, develop effective treatments that cross boundaries and are practical for use in resource-poor care settings.

Dr. Wesley A. Wierson Ph.D. - Founder and CEO of LEAH Labs

"Engineering a better future for pets (and their humans)"

Wesley A. Wierson Ph.D., founder and CEO of LEAH Labs, is a passionate scientist, dog lover, and entrepreneur applying his expertise in gene editing technology to solve consumer-level problems in society. He studied microbiology as an undergraduate, where he was first exposed to gene editing technology through undergraduate research. As a Ph.D. student, he developed gene editing technology that permits the integration of exogenous genes into the genome with base pair precision, thus giving cells new functions, allowing scientists to study biology, analyze genetics, and engineer living therapies.

Wes founded LEAH Labs in late 2018 to bring living cell therapies to dogs. LEAH Labs is focused on translating a breakthrough, FDA-approved cell therapy called "CAR-T cell therapy" to dogs with B cell lymphoma. Not only is there an unmet market need for better therapies in dogs with cancer, but LEAH Labs also aims to trial novel human cell therapies in spontaneous diseases in dogs, thereby giving them a chance at life while simultaneously gleaning valuable real-world data for pharma companies.