Camille Thorpe

RESEARCH

Currently, my work involves the areas of angiogenesis, vascular biology, and gene therapy. I am specifically interested in viral macrophage inflammatory protein-II (vMIP-II) and uncovering the mechanism by which it promotes angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels. vMIP-II is encoded by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated virus (KSHV, also known as human herpesvirus-8). This protein can bind a wide variety of chemokine receptors, and has been shown to be both angiogenic and immunosuppressive. These qualities, if delivered locally using a gene therapy approach, may be useful in improving the outcomes of tissue engineering and cell transplantation, and may be appropriate in other types of medical therapy to restore blood circulation to ischemic tissues (for example, heart attacks and diabetic peripheral vascular disease).

	Position: Graduate Student Birthday: 14th January,1983 Nationality: Jamaican Education: BS, Florida Institute of Technology Email: cthorpe@scripps.edu	Curriculum vitae

RESEARCH Currently, my work involves the areas of angiogenesis, vascular biology, and gene therapy. I am specifically interested in viral macrophage inflammatory protein-II (vMIP-II) and uncovering the mechanism by which it promotes angiogenesis, the formation of new blood vessels. vMIP-II is encoded by Kaposi's sarcoma-associated virus (KSHV, also known as human herpesvirus-8). This protein can bind a wide variety of chemokine receptors, and has been shown to be both angiogenic and immunosuppressive. These qualities, if delivered locally using a gene therapy approach, may be useful in improving the outcomes of tissue engineering and cell transplantation, and may be appropriate in other types of medical therapy to restore blood circulation to ischemic tissues (for example, heart attacks and diabetic peripheral vascular disease).