Background
B.Sc. University of Ulster. D.Phil. University of Ulster from the Biomedical Sciences Research Center focus on Oncology. Arrived at BYU 1992. Published 140+ peer reviewed papers over 900 presentations. Mentored over 500 undergraduates in research. 8 patents issued 12 more in submission.
Cancer Research
Our lab focuses on four main aspects of cancer research:
- Early detection of disease
Cancer is generally easier to treat, and a better outcome is assured, if the tumor growth is found early in its development. If it is discovered before metastatic spread, then generally a more favorable outcome is achieved. We have discovered a tumor marker found in serum that will aid in diagnosis, prognosis and tumor management. This marker accurately reflects tumor presence, and tumor stage. Several other laboratories working in this field have confirmed this research. We have developed an accurate test method for this marker, BYU has patented the discovery and it has been licensed to a biotech company for commercial development.
- Biomarker discovery
As mentioned above, we have discovered an accurate biomarker for the detection of cancer. Our laboratory is interested in discovering additional biomarkers that could help in immunotherapeutic therapy, namely monoclonal antibody treatment and CAR T cell therapy. We are particularly interested in targeting proteins that are upregulated on the surface of cancer cells.
- Immunotherapeutic approaches
Enhancing the body’s own defense systems, particularly the immune system and DNA repair mechanisms. The body has natural defenses against cancer. We study the immune system and help with the development of possible therapies. Understanding how the immune system works in relation to cancer development is a major focus of our research. Cancer is caused by an accumulation of certain mutations in normal cells, but cancer progresses because the immune system fails to recognize the abnormal cells and eliminate them. We are currently studying the interface between the immune system and the cancer cell, focusing on tumor associated macrophages and their role in the cancer process. Using genetic engineering we re-educating the immune system so that it can recognize and kill the tumor cells. Our research is producing a new technology for treating cancer that is showing promise in many different forms of cancer.
CAR T cell Immunotherapy
For years, the foundations of cancer treatment were surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. In the past few years, antibody-based drugs that target cancer cells by homing in on specific molecular markers present on the surface of cancer cells—have proven useful as standard treatments for many cancers. Recently immunotherapy-therapies that enlist and strengthen the power of a patient’s immune system to attack tumors—have emerged as powerful tools in cancer treatment. Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) technology is the new frontier in immunotherapy. Immune cells are removed from the body, genetically modified to recognize cancer biomarkers, and then infused back into the patient. This novel therapy super charges the patient’s immune system to effectively find and destroy cancer cells. Our lab is working on improving the development and delivery of the CAR T cells, and prolonging and monitoring their overall response.
Publications
Recent Journal Articles
130. M. Townsend, M.D. Anderson, E. Weagel, E.J. Velazquez, K.S. Weber, R.A. Robison, and K.L. O’Neill (2017), Non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines A549 and NCI-H460 express hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase on the plasma membrane.
OncoTargets and Therapy 2017 10: 1921-1932.
131. M. Townsend, C. Peck, Wei Meng, M. Heaton, R.A. Robison, and K.L. O’Neill (2017), Evaluation of various glyphosate concentrations on DNA damage in human Raji cells and its impact on cyotoxicity. Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology 85: 79-85.
132. Michelle H. Townsend, Abigail M. Felsted, Zachary E. Ence, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Elevated expression of hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase within malignant tissue. Cancer and Clinical Oncology. 2017
133. Evita G. Weagel, Wei Meng, Michelle H. Townsend, Edwin J. Velazquez, Rachel A. Brog, Michael W. Boyer, K. Scott Weber, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. (2017) Biomarker analysis and clinical relevance of Thymidine Kinase 1 on the cell membrane of Burkitt’s lymphoma and acute lymphoblastic leukemia. OncoTargets and therapy, 10 p1-13.
134. A. B. Miller1, R. G. Cates1, K. L. O’Neill1, J.A. F. Soria2, L.V. Espinoza3, B. F.Alegre1, J.V. Martinez4, D. A.Arbizú5 2018. Evaluation of essential oils from 22 Guatemalan medicinal plants for in vitro activity against cancer and established cell lines. Vol 12(3), pp 42-49.
135. Michelle H. Townsend, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. (2018) A Review of HPRT and its Emerging Role in Cancer.Medical Oncology. 35 (6) 89-95 DOI:https://doi-org/10.1007/212032-018-1144-1
136. Michelle H. Townsend, Abigail M. Felsted, Weston Burrup, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. (2018) Examination of Hypoxanthine Guanine Phosphoribosyltransferase as a biomarker for colorectal cancer patients. Molecular & Cellular Oncology. 5 (4) 1-14. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/23723556.2018.1481810
137. Evita G Weagel, Juan Mejía, Roman Kovtun, Joshua Keller, Juan A Arroyo, Richard A Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill (2018). TK1 Membrane expression may play a role in the invasion potential of A549 Lung cancer cells. Journal of Cancer Therapy 9 (8) 605-612
138. Michelle H. Townsend, Abigail M.Felsted, Stephen F. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill (2018) Metastatic colon adenocarcinoma has a significantly elevated expression of IL-10 compared to primary colon adenocarcinoma tumors. Cancer Biology and Therapy. 19 (10) 913-920. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/15384047.2017.1360453
139. Michelle H.Townsend, Gajendra Shrestha, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. (2018) The expansion of targetable biomarkers for CAR T cell therapy. Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research. 37 (1) 163-186
140. Evita Weagel, Weston Burrup, Roman Kovtun, Edwin Velazquez, Abigail Felsted, Michelle Townsend, Zachary Ence, K. Scott Weber, Richard Robison, and Kim O’Neill. (2018) Membrane expression of thymidine kinase 1 and potential clinical relevance in lung, breast and colorectal malignancies. Cancer Cell International. 18 (1) 135-149
141. Michelle H. Townsend, Abigail M. Felsted, Zac E. Ence, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. (2019) Falling from Grace: HPRT is not suitable as an endogenous control for cancer-related studies. Molecular and Cellular Oncology 6 (2) 1-10.
142. Michelle H. Townsend, Zac E. Ence, Abigail M. Felsted, Alyssa C. Parker, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. (2019) Potential new biomarkers for endometrial cancer. Cancer Cell International 19 (1) 19-37
143. Michelle H. Townsend, Kelsey Bennion, Richard Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill (2020) Paving the way towards a universal treatment with allogenic T cells. Immunologic Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12026-020-09119-7
144. Edwin J. Velazquez1, Taylor D. Brindley1, Gajendra Shrestha2 , Eliza E. Bitter1, Jordan D. Cress1,
Michelle H. Townsend2, Bradford K. Berges1, Richard A. Robison1, K. Scott Weber1 and Kim L. O’Neill1 (2020) Novel monoclonal antibodies against thymidine kinase 1 and their potential use for the immunotargeting of lung, breast and colon cancer cells. Cancer Cell International 20, 127 p1-20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12935-020-01198-8
145. Thymidine kinase 1 through the ages: a comprehensive review
Eliza E. Bitter, Michelle H. Townsend, Rachel Erickson, Carolyn Allen &
Kim L. O’Neill 2020 Cell & Bioscience volume 10, Article number: 138 (2020)
146. Edwin J Velazquez, Taylor D Brindley, Gajendra Shrestha, Eliza E Bitter, Jordan D Cress, Michelle H Townsend, Bradford K Berges, Richard A Robison, K Scott Weber, Kim L O’Neill. Novel Monoclonal Antibodies against Thymidine Kinase 1 and Their Potential Use for the Immunotargeting of Lung, Breast and Colon Cancer Cells. In: Heidari A, editor. Prime Archives in Cancer Research. Hyderabad, India: Vide Leaf. 2021.
Presentations From the O’Neill lab (2018-2020)
2018 Invited talk given to a Clinical Anatomy of Cancer seminar on April 6, 2018 entitled, “Cancer biomarkers as targets for immunotherapy.”
2018 Invited speaker at the Office Professionals Association Conference, (OPAC) Talk entitled ‘From Ireland to Utah, why did I come to BYU?’ Room 3380 WSC March 16th 2018.
2018 Surface Localization of HPRT and it’s implication as an immunotherapy target for B cell malignancies. Michelle H. Townsend, Abigail M. Felsted, Taylor P. Cox, Zachary E. Ence, John E. Lattin, Michael K. Boyer, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Presented at the 2018 Simmons Center for Cancer Research Annual Donor Appreciation Dinner held in Provo, Utah.
2018 Mechanistically Minded: A study of the surface co-localization of salvage pathway enzymes. Michelle H. Townsend, Kelsey Bennion, Evita Weagel, Kiara Whitley, Edwin Velazquez, Scott Weber, and Kim O’Neill. Presented at the 2018 National Symposium for Undergraduate Research hosted by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
2018 HPRT’s surface expression and biochemical connection tp53 in prostate cancer. Michelle H. Townsend, Taylor P. Cox, Abigail M. Felsted, John E. Lattin, Zac Ence, Richard A. Robison, Stephen R. Piccolo, and Kim L. O’Neill. Presented at the 2018 BYU Biomedical Symposium held in Provo, Utah.
2018 HPRT Upregulation in cancer and its potential use as a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker. Michelle H. Townsend, Abigail M. Felsted, Zachary E. Ence, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Presented at the 2018 BYU Biomedical Symposium held in Provo Utah.
2018 Potential B cell malignancy biomarker: the upregulation and surface expression of hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyltransferase. Michelle H. Townsend, Kelsey A. Bennion, Abigail M. Felsted, Taylor P. Cox, Zac E. Ence, John E. Lattin, Michael K. Boyer, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Presented at the 2018 BYU Biomedical Symposium held in Provo Utah.
2018 Evaluating HPRT as a potential Immunotherapeutic target in colon cancer cells. Michelle H. Townsend, Thomas B. Clay, Abigail M. Felsted, Weston Burrup, Evita G. Weagel, Edwin J. Velazquez, K. Scott Weber, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Presented at the 2018 BYU Biomedical Symposium held in Provo Utah.
2018 Evaluation of the upregulation and surface presentation of HPRT as an immunotherapy target for the treatment of B cell malignancies. Michelle H. Townsend, Zach E. Ence, Taylor P. Cox, John E. Lattin, Weston Burrup, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Presented at the 2018 Cancer and Immunotherapy Symposium at the American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting held in Chicago, Illinois.
2018 Evaluation of TGF-β and IL-10 as potential prognostic biomarkers in primary and metastatic colorectal adenocarcinoma. Michelle H. Townsend, Taylor Brindley, Abigail M. Felsted, Zachary E. Ence, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L O’Neill. Presented at the 2018 American Association of Microbiologist Tri-Branch Meeting in Durango, Colorado.
2018 Upregulation of housekeeping HPRT1 gene in malignancies hinders subsequent use as endogenous control. Michelle H. Townsend, Abigail M. Felsted, Zachary E. Ence, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Presented at the 2018 President’s Leadership Council semi-annual meeting in Provo, Utah.
2018 Expression of IL-10 and TGF-B in Primary and Metastatic Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Tumors. Michelle H. Townsend, Taylor D. Brindley, Rachel A. Uhl, Abigail M. Felsted, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research in the Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster competition in Chicago, Illinois.
2018 Determining the Molecular Mechanism of HPRT Surface Expression in Prostate Cancer. Michelle H. Townsend, Taylor P. Cox, Abigail M. Felsted, John E. Lattin, Zac Ence, Richard A. Robison, Stephen R. Piccolo, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research in the Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster competition in Chicago, Illinois.
2018 Evaluation of Potential Protein Biomarkers for Burkitt’s Lymphoma. Michelle H. Townsend, Zachary D. Ewell, Zachary Ence, Weston Burrup, Edwin J. Velazquez, Richard A. Robison, Stephen R. Piccolo, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research in the Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster competition in Chicago, Illinois.
2018 Unusual HPRT1 Upregulation in Malignant Tissue and Potential Use as a Diagnostic Biomarker. Michelle H. Townsend, Abigail M. Felsted, Zachary E. Ence, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research in the Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster competition in Chicago, Illinois.
2018 Evaluating surface expression of the nucleotide salvage pathway enzyme HPRT on colorectal cancer cells. Michelle H. Townsend, Thomas Clay, Abigail M. Felsted, Weston S. Burrup, Evita G. Weagel, Edwin J. Velazquez, K. Scott Weber, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research in the Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster competition in Chicago, Illinois.
2018 HPRT surface localization on prostate cancer cells as a biomarker for Immunotherapy. Michelle H. Townsend, Abigail M. Felsted, Taylor P. Cox, Zachary E. Ence, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation and abstract publication at the AACR 109th annual meeting April 2018 in Chicago, IL.
2018 IL-10 as an indicator of metastatic potential in colorectal carcinoma Michelle H. Townsend, Taylor P. Cox, Abigail M. Felsted, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation and abstract publication at the AACR 109th annual meeting April 2018 in Chicago, IL.
2018 Unique HPRT1 upregulation in malignant tissue: Potential use as a diagnostic biomarker. Michelle H. Townsend, Abigail M. Felsted, Zachary E. Ence, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation and abstract publication at the AACR 109th annual meeting April 2018 in Chicago, IL.
2018 HPRT: A biomarker and potential target for detection and treatment of colorectal cancers. Michelle H. Townsend, Eric Olson, Evita G. Weagel, Edwin J. Velazquez, Abigail M. Felsted, Weston Burrup, K. Scott Weber, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation and abstract publication at the AACR 109th annual meeting April 2018 held in Chicago, IL.
2018 Development of a predictive, diagnostic sandwich ELISA against Thymidine Kinase I Taylor D. Brindley, Rachel A. Uhl, Michelle H. Townsend, Edwin J. Velazquez, Eliza Lawrence, and Kim L. O’Neill. Presented at the 2018 National Symposium for Undergraduate Research hosted by St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
2018 Suppression of macrophage phagocytosis with low frequency electromagnetic field. Evita G. Weagel, Weston Burrup, Michelle H. Townsend, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster Presentation and abstract publication at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research in Chicago, Illinois.
2018 Identifying TK1 Localization in Immortalized Placental Cell Lines and in Conditioned Placental Tissue. Eliza E.K. Lawrence, Michelle H. Townsend, Juan Mejia, Zac E. Ence, Roman Kovtun, Joshua Keller, Evita Weagel, Juan Arroyo, and Kim L. O’Neill. Presented at the 2018 Cancer and Immunotherapy Symposium at the American Association of Cancer Research Annual Meeting held in Chicago, Illinois.
2018 Differential polarization of macrophages after varying lengths of EMF exposure. Weston Burrup, Michelle H. Townsend, Evita G. Weagel, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research in the Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster competition in Chicago, Illinois.
2018 Identifying TK1 localization in immortalized placental cell lines and in conditioned placental tissue. Eliza E.K. Lawrence, Michelle H. Townsend, Juan Mejia, Zac. E. Ence, Roman Kovtun, Joshua Keller, Evita Weagel, Juan Arroyo, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research in the Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster competition in Chicago, Illinois.
2018 Harnessing the immune system: a human engineered antibody specific to TK1. Kelsey Bennion, Brianne Kingery, Michelle Townsend, Kiara Whitley, Edwin Velazquez, K. Scott Weber, Kim O’Neill. Poster presentation at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research in the Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster competition in Chicago, Illinois.
2018 Chimeric antigen receptor modified macrophages harnessing toll/IL-1 receptor signaling for the treatment of solid tumors. Edwin J. Velazquez, John E. Lattin, Zachary D. Ewell, Taylor D. Brindley, Zachary Z. Reinstein, Michelle H. Townsend, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation at the 2018 American Association for Cancer Research in the Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster competition in Chicago, Illinois.
*** This presentation won an honorable mention and the people’s choice award.
2018 Macrophage toll-like receptor-chimeric antigen receptors (MOTO-CARs) as a novel adoptive cell therapy for the treatment of solid malignancies. Edwin J. Velazquez, John E. Lattin, Taylor D. Brindley, Zachary Z. Reinstein, Roger Chu, Lu Liu, Evita G Weagel, Michelle H. Townsend, Kiara V. Whitley, E. L. Lawrence, Brandon T. Garcia, K. Scott Weber, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation and abstract publication at the AACR 109th annual meeting April 2018 in Chicago, IL.
2018 Identifying TK1 localization in immortalized placental cell lines and in conditioned placental tissue. Eliza E.K. Lawrence, Michelle H. Townsend, Juan Mejia, Roman Kovtun, Joshua Keller, Evita Weagel, Juan Arroyo, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation and abstract publication at the AACR 109th annual meeting April 2018 in Chicago, IL.
2018 Invited Keynote speaker at the 109th Annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, April Chicago, Il. Gave a talk entitled, “Understanding Cancer”.
2018 Keynote speaker at the Global Oncology Group Meeting October, Brigham Young University, Entitled, “Global Oncology.”
2019 Oral Talk given at the intermountain branch meeting of the American Society of Microbiologists on April 13th, 2019 entitled, “The where, what, and why of HPRT and cancer: its presence, mechanism, and target potential.
2019 Invited talk given at the BYU Cancer Symposium on March 8, 2019 entitled, “Understanding Cancer”.
2019 “HPRT may modulate the tumor microenvironment via guanosine overproduction.” Michelle H. Townsend, Zachary D. Ewell, Claudia M. Tellez Freitas, Dallas J. Larsen, Eliza L. Lawrence, Kelsey B. Bennion, Stephen R. Piccolo, K. Scott Weber, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation at the inaugural 2019 BYU Cancer Symposium sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research held in Provo UT.
2019 “Potential prostate cancer therapeutic target: Hypoxanthine Guanine phosphoribosyltransferase.” Michelle H. Townsend, Kelsey A. Bennion, Zachary E. Ence, Erica Suh, Abigail M. Felsted, John E. Lattin, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richrad A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Presented at the inaugural 2019 BYU Cancer Symposium sponsored by the American Association for Cancer Research held in Provo, UT.
2019 “The immunosuppressve tumor microenvironment may be affected by HPRT overexpression.” Michelle H. Townsend, Zachary D. Ewell, Claudia M. Tellez Freitas, Dallas J. Larsen, Eliza L. Lawrence, Kelsey B. Bennion, Stephen R. Piccolo, K. Scott Weber, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill.
2019 Poster presentation at the 2019 American Association for Cancer Research in the Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster competition in Atlanta, Georgia. Prospective biomarkers for endometrial cancer.” Michelle H. Townsend, Rachel C. Palmer, Zac E. Ence, Abigail M. Felsted, Alyssa C. Parker, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation at the 2019 American Association for Cancer Research in the Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster competition in Atlanta, Georgia.
2019 “Exploring the use of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HPRT) antibodies for immunotherapeutic application in prostate cancer.” Michelle H. Townsend, Kelsey A. Bennion, Zac E. Ence, Erica Suh, Abigail M. Felsted, John E. Lattin, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation at the 2019 American Association for Cancer Research in the Undergraduate Student Caucus and Poster competition in Atlanta, Georgia.
2019 “HPRT Overexpression May Contribute to the Immunosuppressive Tumor Microenvironment.” Michelle H. Townsend, Zachary D. Ewell, Claudia M. Tellez Freitas, Dallas J. Larsen, Eliza L. Lawrence, Kelsey B. Bennion, Stephen R. Piccolo, K. Scott Weber, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Presented at the 2019 American Association for Cancer Research Annual meeting held in Atlanta, Georgia.
2019 “Differential expression of HPRT in prostate cancer leads to investigation of its ADCC effects.” Michelle H. Townsend, Kelsey A. Bennion, Zac E. Ence, Eliza E. Bitter, Abi M. Felsted, John E. Lattin, McKay D. Reese, Stephen R. Piccolo, Kim L. O'Neill. Presented at the 2019 American Association for Cancer Research Annual meeting held in Atlanta, Georgia.
2019 “HPRT impact on immune regulation influences the tumor microenvironment.” Michelle H. Townsend, Eliza EK. Bitter, Dallas Larsen, Claudia M. Tellez, Stephen R. Piccolo, K. Scott Weber, Richard A. Robison, Kim L. O’Neill. Presented at the Midwinter Conference of Immunologists held in Monterey, California.
2019 “Stepping into the ring of cancer immunotherapy: HPRT as a therapeutic target.” Michelle H. Townsend, Kelsey A. Bennion, Zac E. Ence, Erica Suh, Abigail M. Felsted, John E. Lattin, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Presented at the Midwinter Conference of Immunologists held in Monterey, California.
2019 “Upregulation of housekeeping HPRT1 gene in malignancies hinders subsequent use as an endogenous control.” Michelle H. Townsend, Abigail M. Felsted, Zachary E. Ence, Stephen R. Piccolo, Richard A. Robison, and Kim L. O’Neill. Invited presentation at the President’s Leadership Council Annual Meeting at Brigham Young University held in Provo, UT.
2019 “HPRT’s surface expression and biochemical connection tp53 in prostate cancer.” Michelle H. Townsend, Taylor P. Cox, Abigail M. Felsted, John E. Lattin, Zac Ence, Richard A. Robison, Stephen R. Piccolo, and Kim L. O’Neill. Presented at the 2018 BYU Biomedical Symposium held in Provo, Utah.
2019 Thymidine Kinase 1 variability in primary and metastatic human breast cell lines and its correlation to metastatic potential. Eliza E Bitter, Michelle H Townsend, Kelsey A Bennion, Juan Mejia, Gajendra Shrestha, Kelsey Hirschi, Juan Arroyo, and Kim O’Neill. Presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting held in Atlanta, Georgia.
2019 Invited Keynote speaker at the 110th Annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research, April Atlanta, l. Gave a talk entitled, “Understanding Cancer”.
2019 Invited Keynote speaker at the 9th World Congress on Breast Cancer April 25th-26th London, England. Gave a talk entitled, “Developing MOTO-CARs to treat Breast Cancer”.
2019 Selection and Evaluation of Human Nanobodies against the Tumor Biomarker Thymidine Kinase 1 with Phage Display Technology. Edwin J. Velazquez, Jordan D. Cress, Kathryn R. Smith, Jonathan R. Skidmore, Tyler B. Humpherys, Michelle H. Townsend, Zach D. Ewell, Richard A. Robison and Kim L. O’Neill. Poster presentation at the 2019 Intermountain Biological Engineering Conference November 11, in Logan, Utah.* Poster won fourth place.
2020 Honored Mentor at the AACR Professional Advancement Session ‘Navigating the Path of a Successful Career in Cancer Research’ Talk entitled “Finding a Mentor and building an effective relationship with them” Monday April 27th 6:30-8:30pm San Diego, CA. CANCELLED DUE TO COVID
2020 “Preclinical Evaluation of Anti-TK1 Antibodies for the Treatment of Colorectal Malignancies”. Edwin J. Velázquez, Tyler B. Humpherys, Jordan D. Cress, David M. Bellini, Kathryn R. Smith, Rachel A. Skabelund, and Kim L. O’Neill
Oral and poster presentation at College of Life Sciences Undergraduate Research Poster Competition on March 26, 2020 at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
2020 “Immunotargeting of Membrane Associated Thymidine Kinase 1 in Colorectal Malignancies”. Edwin J. Velázquez, Tyler B. Humpherys, Jordan D. Cress, David M. Bellini, Kathryn R. Smith, and Kim L. O’Neill
Oral presentation at 2020 American Society of Microbiology Intermountain Branch virtual meeting on December 5, 2020.
2020 Velazquez, E.J., Cress, J.D., Smith, K.R., Skidmore, J.R., Humpherys, T.B., Bellini, D.M., Ewell, Z.D., Robison, R.A., and O’Neill, K.L. Exploring the potential of human nanobodies against thymidine kinase 1 for the targeting of lung cancer cells. Poster presented at the
2020 Velazquez, E.J., Cress, J.D., Smith, K.R., Brindley, T.D., Shrestha, G., Robison, R.A., O’Neill, K.L. Monoclonal antibodies against thymidine kinase 1 (TK1) for the immunotargeting of lung, breast and colon cancer cells, a preclinical evaluation. Poster presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Virtual Annual Meeting. June 22-24, 2020.
2020 Velazquez, E.J., Cress, J.D., Smith, K.R., Skidmore, J.R., Humpherys, T.B., Townsend, M.H., Ewell, Z.D., Robison, R.A., and O’Neill, K.L. Isolation of heavy chain variable domain antibodies (dAbs) against thymidine kinase 1 for the immunotargeting of cancer. Poster presented at the BYU Life Sciences CURA Grant Poster Presentation, Brigham Young University. April 22, 2020.