Trainee of the Month – Enzo Baracuhy

Enzo is a member of the Mossman Lab. His research focuses on studying Bovine herpesvirus type-1 (BHV-1) as an immunotherapy. His project explores whether BHV-1 requires replication to induce an anti-tumour effect in our mouse model and to further uncover BHV-1’s therapeutic mechanism. Enzo’s undergraduate research focused on other viruses as a gene therapy, but he became interested in oncolytic viruses when he entered graduate school. In his free time, Enzo enjoys cooking.

1.  What is your current research focus?

My research focuses on studying Bovine herpesvirus type-1 (BHV-1) as an immunotherapy, which our lab has previously shown to be effective against tumours in the context of a therapeutic regimen. Our lab and others have shown that viral replication is not necessary to induce immune responses within cancer cells. Moreover, we have consistently failed to observe a correlation between viral replication of an oncolytic virus in vitro vs its efficacy in vivo. My project aims to explore whether BHV-1 requires replication to induce an anti-tumour effect in our mouse model, and to further uncover BHV-1’s therapeutic mechanism.

2.  What made you interested in pursuing cancer research?

My undergraduate research focused on engineering a different virus as a gene therapy to treat different genetic diseases. I became super interested in the notion of viruses–which are traditionally pathogenic—being used for good. Thus, when I was applying to grad school, the field of oncolytic viruses neatly fit what I was looking for as a research topic..

3.  What are your interests outside the CDCR and the lab?

My favourite hobby is cooking. I’ve always found making food to be such a unique intersection of science and art. Like science, there are set rules: certain ingredients can go together, some can’t, some must, some require specific temperatures to bring out their flavour, etc. At the same time, a deep understanding of these rules lets you know when you can break them, to what degree, and under what conditions. Like art, this understanding allows you to be creative and develop new recipes and flavours. One of my greatest joys is taking risks in the kitchen that result in something delicious.