Chandini Thirukkumaran

Dr. Chandini Thirukkumaran

PhD

Positions

Research Associate Professor

Cumming School of Medicine, Department of Oncology

Member

Arnie Charbonneau Cancer Institute

Contact information

Phone number

Office: 403.521.3060

Background

Educational Background

B.S. Biological Sciences, , 1979

Doctor of Philosophy Microbiology, University of Calgary, 1994

M.Phil. Microbiology, University of Sri Lanka, 1983

Biography

Dr. Chandini Thirukkumaran is a Research Associate Professor at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta. She received her PhD in microbiology in 1994 from the University of Calgary. Following completion of a post doctoral fellowship in signal transduction at the University of Calgary, she joined the Translational Research Laboratories at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre as a Research Assistant Professor in 1999. Since then her work has focused on oncolytic viruses as a treatment modality for cancer. Presently she is conducting research on multiple myeloma and breast cancer and examines the effects of oncolytic viruses on immune modulation when given in conjunction with “standard of care therapies” for these malignancies.

Research

Areas of Research

Area of Focus
  • Next generation treatment strategies for multiple myeloma: immune modulation with oncolytic reovirus
Summary of Research

Use of oncolytic viruses as “purging agents” of minimal residual disease during autotransplantation and hematopoietic stem cell graft manipulation.  Examining the effects of oncolytic viruses on immune modulation when given in conjunction with “standard of care therapies” for multiple myeloma and breast cancer. Study of signaling mechanisms in oncolytic virus induced cell death pathways in breast, prostate and hematological malignancies.