Yvonne J. Paterson, PhD, a professor of Microbiology in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, has been elected a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Fellows are named inventors on U.S. patents. Election to fellow status recognizes academic inventors who have “demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.” She joins 174 other leaders of academic invention in election to fellow status in the 2016 class.

Paterson, a breast cancer survivor, works to harness the body’s immune system to provide protection against, and find cures for, cancer. She has been issued 32 U.S. patents and numerous foreign patents; a further 12 possible U.S. patents are under review.

Among her achievements, she led the development and testing of a cancer vaccine that uses the common bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, which can cause food poisoning and other illnesses, to fight tumors. “Unfortunately, our immune system doesn’t recognize cancer cells as invaders,” Paterson said.  “So the goal is to exploit the bacterium, which the body does recognize as abnormal, into provoking the type of immune response necessary for wiping out the cancer cells and keeping them from coming back.” 

Paterson genetically modifies listeria to smuggle in proteins that can rouse the immune system into action. (Genetic modification also reduces the bacterium’s adverse symptoms in the patient.) She then uses the made-to-order listeria to mimic an infection in the cancer cells, prompting an immune response from the body that seeks to eradicate the contamination. In addition to destroying tumor cells, the hope is that the immunotherapy can prevent metastatic cells from developing and spreading the cancer elsewhere in the body.

The research has resulted in the formation of two US companies, one of which, Advaxis, is in phase 3 clinical trials for this immunotherapy for cervical cancer, as well as earlier-stage trials for several more forms of cancer. Other potential targets include lung, prostate, head and neck, anal, breast, and gastric cancers, as well as melanoma and lymphoma.

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