LS Seminar: Infection and Immunity Symposium - From Pathogens to Partners: Viruses in Cancer Therapy

Seminar organised by the symposium committee of the Infection and Immunity Master's programme. 

Topic

Oncolytic virotherapy is a therapeutic strategy in which viruses are employed as anticancer agents. Although it has been regarded as a promising experimental modality in oncology for nearly a century, only one oncolytic virus been approved globally for clinical use in humans. While numerous naturally occurring and genetically engineered viruses exhibit oncolytic and oncotropic properties—enabling selective infection and destruction of tumor tissue—the translation of these findings into routine clinical practice has progressed slowly. A published clinical case report describing the self-experimental treatment of recurrent breast cancer using measles virus and vesicular stomatitis virus, conducted in Croatia (Forčić et al. Vaccines 2024) has generated substantial interest within the scientific community (e.g. Nature 2024, Molecular Therapy Oncolytics 2025, Frontiers in Immunology 2025, Journal of Medical Ethics 2025, Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics 2026) as well as in the general media (Uncharted Teritories, LeFigaro, Zeit, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, among others). Dr Halassy will outline the biological principles underpinning oncolytic virotherapy, present the self-treatment case conducted in collaboration with colleagues, and discuss the features that render this case of particular relevance to the field. 

Speaker

Dr. Beata Halassy

Beata Halassy, PhD is a Scientific Adviser with tenure and Head of a research team and laboratory at the Centre for Research and Knowledge Transfer in Biotechnology, University of Zagreb. She trained as a molecular biologist at the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb, where she obtained her PhD in Biological Sciences. After 19 years in biopharmaceutical R&D focused on vaccines and plasma-derived medicinal products, her research now centres on virus–host interactions and the therapeutic exploitation of viruses. She is the inventor of patented technology in virus purification, protected by granted European and US patents. Her current work focuses on oncolytic virotherapy, investigating the use of viruses as anticancer agents. Dr Halassy has published 78 peer-reviewed papers and has an h-index of 21 (Web of Science).

When and where

The seminar will take place on Thursday November 19^th from 16.00-17.00 at Megaron.

Registration

A registration link will be shared during the seminar.

Drinks

After the seminar there will be drinks and bites to enjoy for everyone. This social event will take place in the Restaurant of the Educatorium from 17:00 to 18:00. This gives you the opportunity to ask questions to the speaker in a less formal setting and do some socialising and networking with your fellow students!

If you have any questions, you can contact us at lsa@umcutrecht.nl.