Nobel Laureate Mario Capecchi, Ph.D., visits with his former trainee, Charles Keller, M.D., who is an assistant professor at the UT Health Science Center’s Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute.
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Mario Capecchi, Ph.D., a 2007 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, discussed his pioneering gene-targeting technology at a special lecture for The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio community on April 15.

“We are so pleased that Dr. Capecchi agreed to speak on our campus,” said Health Science Center President Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D. “It was a wonderful opportunity for our students and researchers, especially, to hear someone who has made such an impact on the way we can now study diseases. Gene targeting has made it possible to better understand potential treatments for all sorts of illnesses before they are evaluated in humans.”

Visit facilitated by faculty member
Dr. Capecchi explained the research that led to his receiving the Nobel Prize to a standing-room-only crowd that overflowed into an adjacent lecture hall. The visit was facilitated by one of his past trainees, Charles Keller, M.D., an assistant professor at the UT Health Science Center’s Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute (GCCRI).

“Mario continues to teach and inspire me,” Dr. Keller said. “At age 70, his lab is still breaking new ground in cancer and adult stem cell biology. His drive, which he describes as the ‘pursuit of curiosity,’ is a lesson to live by.”

Manipulating genes to benefit human life
Dr. Capecchi’s work with Drs. Oliver Smithies and Martin J. Evans began in the 1980s. His discoveries made it possible to manipulate the genomes of mice to create mutations of any gene. Researchers can now create sophisticated pre-clinical models of cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, cystic fibrosis and other illnesses to study prevention and treatment strategies before they are studied in humans.

(Click on image for full view.) Dr. Capecchi had lunch with a small group following the lecture. Among them were (left to right) President Francisco G. Cigarroa, M.D.; Charles Keller, M.D., assistant professor in the Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute; Lisa Nevell, graduate student in residence in Dr. Keller’s lab; Dr. Capecchi; William Henrich, M.D., M.A.C.P., dean of the School of Medicine and vice president for medical affairs; Tyler Curiel, M.D., M.P.H., executive director of the Cancer Center at The UT Health Science Center; and Brian Herman, Ph.D., vice present for research.

Academic research has an important role
“I think Mario was very impressed with the achievements and leadership of the GCCRI and the Health Science Center,” Dr. Keller said. “In response to a question of why he studies sarcomas, Mario expressed his strong personal belief that academics have an obligation to fill in the gap for developing and testing new drugs for rare diseases – conditions that are outside the radar of profit-minded pharmaceutical companies. This message resonates very well with the mission of the GCCRI and the Health Science Center’s Institute for Drug Development (IDD).

“Within the IDD, we are continually searching for effective anticancer therapies using gene targeting. This involves discovering how genes react to such diverse agents as viruses and molecules specifically designed to inhibit cancer growth, with much of our work going into studying how to find better treatments for sarcoma, a group of cancers that affect the connective tissue in the body,” said IDD Director Francis Giles, M.D.

Dr. Capecchi overcame early challenges in life
Dr. Capecchi’s life is one of achievement over tremendous odds. After surviving World War II as a child, wandering the streets and separated from his family, Dr. Capecchi later was reunited with his mother. The two emigrated to the United States where Dr. Capecchi later earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry and physics from Antioch College in 1961 and his Ph.D.in biophysics from Harvard University in 1967.

Dr. Capecchi has held faculty positions at Harvard Medical School and the University of Utah. He is a distinguished professor of human genetics and biology at the University of Utah’s Eccles Institute of Human Genetics and is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.