Washington University
St. Louis, Missouri, United States
Dr. Ashwani Kesarwani is a postdoctoral research associate at Washington University in St. Louis, where he works with Dr. Milan Chheda, an associate professor in the Department of Medicine. His research focuses on developing novel therapeutics for glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive type of primary brain tumor.
Dr. Kesarwani’s main interest is to utilize the oncolytic potential of Zika virus (ZIKV), a mosquito-borne flavivirus that can infect and kill glioblastoma cells. He and his colleagues have genetically engineered ZIKV to enhance its safety and efficacy against glioblastoma. They have also shown that ZIKV specifically targets glioma stem cells and does not harm normal cells. ZIKV induces an anti-tumor immune response that requires CD8+ T cells and can be further boosted by immune checkpoint blockade.
Currently, Dr. Kesarwani is working on a novel immunotherapy that combines ZIKV with a myeloid immune checkpoint inhibitor, Siglec-15. Siglec-15 is mainly expressed in tumor cells and myeloid cells. The presence of Siglec-15 suppresses T-cell responses and promotes tumor growth. By blocking Siglec-15, Dr. Kesarwani hopes to enhance the oncolytic and immunostimulatory effects of ZIKV in a mouse model of glioblastoma that mimics human disease.
Dr. Kesarwani has published several papers in peer-reviewed journals. He is passionate about translating his research findings into clinical applications that can benefit patients with glioblastoma.
Dr. Kesarwani obtained his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India. He joined Dr. Chheda’s lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2021.
