Paula Cannon, Ph.D. is a Distinguished Professor of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. Dr. Cannon’s background as a virologist studying HIV and other RNA viruses led to an interest in how viruses could be exploited as gene therapy vectors. More recently, her lab has focused on the use of gene editing tools such as zinc finger nucleases and CRISPR/Cas9 to engineer blood and immune cells. A significant area of interest is how such tools could be used to address chronic conditions including HIV. Her lab was the first to demonstrate that gene editing could be harnessed to knock out the HIV co-receptor molecule, CCR5, and thereby create an HIV resistant immune system. Pre-clinical studies in humanized mice supported subsequent clinical trials in people living with HIV. More recently her lab has made advances engineering B cells to express customizable antibodies and non-antibody molecules, in a way that could take advantage of the natural response of B cells to vaccination.
Dr. Cannon is highly regarded as a gene and cell therapist. In 2024-2025, she will become the President of the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy, which is the largest professional organization for academic and industry scientists working in this area of medicine.
