Robert E. W. Hancock

Robert E. W. Hancock OC OBC FRSC (born March 23, 1949) is a Canadian microbiologist and University of British Columbia, (UBC) Killam Professor of Microbiology and Immunology , an Associate Faculty Member of the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute and a Canada Research Chair in Health and Genomics.

Robert E. W. Hancock
Hancock in 2016
Born (1949-03-23) March 23, 1949
NationalityCanadian
OccupationProfessor
AwardsOfficer of the Order of Canada, ICAAC Antimicrobial Research Award, Prix Galien, Order of British Columbia
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Adelaide
Academic work
DisciplineMicrobiology and Immunology
InstitutionsUniversity of British Columbia
Notable ideasSelf-promoted uptake theory, Cationic peptides as immune modulators
WebsiteHancock Lab Website

Hancock is “considered a world leader in his field”[1][2] and is most known for his work on cationic host defence (antimicrobial) peptides[3][4][5] and finding alternate treatments[6] to antibiotic resistance.

At an early age Hancock recognized that he wanted to produce something “useful” and decided he was going to become a scientist, his dream was further reinforced years later when he read an article on the discovery of penicillin and he was struck by the powers of observation that led to this discovery.[2]

He received his PhD in microbiology in 1975 from the University of Adelaide where he studied bacteriophage receptors for his PhD thesis and then went on to study the E. coli outer membrane at the University of Tübingen in Germany. Following his studies in Germany, Hancock spent a year at the University of California, Berkeley where he began his work on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and porins proteins that form channels in membranes. Three years after completing his PhD, he began his career at the University of British Columbia, starting as an Assistant Professor. While at UBC he came up with the self-promoted uptake theory,[7] the idea that antibiotics promote their own uptake across the cell membrane. This discovery shaped much of the work done in the Hancock Lab today.

He became interested in studying antibiotic resistance mechanisms in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and this eventually morphed into his involvement in sequencing the genome of Pseudomonas, only the 4th bacterial genome to be sequenced,[8] identifying new mechanisms of antibiotic resistance especially dependent on lifestyle adaptations in Pseudomonas,[9] and then finding new therapeutics for treating antibiotic resistant pathogens.[3][5] His research morphed into investigating small cationic peptides from nature, originally termed cationic antimicrobial peptides,[9] but eventually "host defence peptides" and as his research progressed he became one of the first and most prominent advocates that the major function of these peptides was as modulators of the immune system.[5][10] To understand the role of these peptides as modulators of the immune system he developed InnateDB, NetworkAnalyst and MetaBridge as tools to enable systems/network biology studies and insights.[11]

Currently Hancock and his lab’s research interests include small cationic peptides as novel antimicrobials, broad-spectrum anti-biofilm agents, and modulators of innate immunity, the development of novel treatments for antibiotic resistant infections and inflammation, the systems biology of innate immunity, inflammatory diseases and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and antibiotic uptake and resistance.

Over his career he has published more than 770 papers and reviews, has 69 patents awarded, and is an ISI highly cited author in Microbiology with more than 104,000 citations and an h-index of 164. He has won several awards and is an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is a co-founder of Migenix, Inimex Pharmaceuticals, ABT Innovations, Sepset Biotherapeutics, and the Centre for Drug Research and Development.

Education

Hancock received his B.S.c. (First Class Honors) (1971) and Ph.D. (1975) in Microbiology from the University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia. He did his post-doctoral work at the University of Tübingen in Germany (1975-1977), followed by a research year at the University of California, Berkeley where he studied bacteriophage receptors.

UBC Lab

Hancock’s lab is located at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. With over 10,000 square feet and more than 30 members the lab is well-equipped, technologically diverse and well-funded. The fundamental interest of the Hancock laboratory is in designing new therapeutic strategies to treat infections in the light of increasing antibiotic resistance coupled with a dearth of new antibiotic discovery.

Canadian Anti-infective Innovation Network (CAIN)

Hancock and Dr. Gerry Wright formed the Canadian Anti-infective Innovation Network (CAIN) in 2017. CAIN was formed with the purpose of leveraging innovative approaches and expertise to solve the expanding health crisis caused by Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) infections. In less than a year CAIN has grown to over 90 members from across Canada.

Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research (CMDR)

Hancock is the director of the Centre for Microbial Diseases and Immunity Research (CMDR) a multi-faculty, multi-department consortium of world class microbial diseases and immunology researchers located at the University of British Columbia.

Awards and honours

Editorships

In addition to reviewing roughly 80 manuscripts, grants and reviews per year for a variety of journals and foundations, Robert Hancock holds the following editorships.

  • 2015- Pathogenesis, Editorial Board
  • 2014- Antimicrobial Therapeutics Reviews, Editorial Board
  • 2013 Current Opinion in Microbiology, Antimicrobials Issue Editor
  • 2013 Handbook of Biologically Active Drugs, 2nd Edition, Section Editor
  • 2012- PeerJ ,Board of Academic Editors
  • 2009- Annual Reviews in Antimicrobial Therapeutics, Editorial Board
  • 2009- Microbial Drug Resistance, Editorial Board
  • 2006 Handbook of Biologically Active Drugs, 1st Edition, Section Editor
  • 2005- Peptides, Editorial Board
  • 1998- Current Opinion in Anti-infective Drugs, Editorial Board
  • 1998-05 The Infectious Diseases Review, Editorial Board
  • 1998 Current Opinion in Microbiology, Antimicrobials issue editor, October
  • 1997- Current Biology, Editorial Board
  • 1997-05 Drug Resistance Updates
  • 1996- Current Microbiology and Infection, International Advisory Board
  • 1988-90 Canadian Journal of Microbiology, Associate Editor
  • 1987-14 Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Editorial Board
  • 1986-89 Infection and Immunity, Editorial Board
  • 1982-90 Journal of Bacteriology, Editorial Board

Ventures

Hancock co-founded the following companies:

  • Migenix
  • Inimex Pharmaceuticals[24]
  • ABT Innovations[25]
  • Sepset Biotherapeutics
  • Centre for Drug Research and Development

References
  1. Hrvatin, Vanessa (June 6, 2017). "Blood ties: The inspiration behind a potential sepsis breakthrough". Maclean's. Retrieved 11 May 2018.
  2. Larkin, Marilynn (November 2003). "Robert E W Hancock–boosting innate immunity to combat infection". The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 3 (11): 736–739. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(03)00799-0. PMID 14592606.
  3. Hilpert K, Volkmer-Engert R, Walter T, Hancock REW (August 2005). "High-throughput generation of small antibacterial peptides with improved activity". Nature Biotechnology. 23 (8): 1008–12. doi:10.1038/nbt1113. PMID 16041366.
  4. Hancock REW, Sahl HG (Dec 2006). "Antimicrobial and host-defense peptides as new anti-infective therapeutic strategies". Nature Biotechnology. 24 (12): 1551–7. doi:10.1038/nbt1267. PMID 17160061.
  5. Scott MG, Dullaghan E, Mookherjee N, Glavas N, Waldbrook M, Thompson A, Wang A, Lee K, Doria S, Hamill P, Yu JJ, Li Y, Donini O, Guarna MM, Finlay BB, North JR, Hancock REW (March 2007). "An anti-infective peptide that selectively modulates the innate immune response". Nature Biotechnology. 25 (4): 465–472. doi:10.1038/nbt1288. PMID 17384586.
  6. Lloyd Czaplewski; Richard Bax; Martha Clokie; Mike Dawson; Heather Fairhead; Vincent A Fischetti; Simon Foster; Brendan F Gilmore; Robert E W Hancock; David Harper; Ian R Henderson; Kai Hilpert; Brian V Jones; Aras Kadioglu; David Knowles; Sigríður Ólafsdóttir; David Payne; Steve Projan; Sunil Shaunak; Jared Silverman; Christopher M Thomas; Trevor J Trust; Peter Warn; John H Rex (Feb 2016). "Alternatives to antibiotics-a pipeline portfolio review". The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 16 (2): 239–51. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(15)00466-1. PMID 26795692.
  7. Hancock, R.E.W. (2001). "Cationic peptides: effectors in innate immunity and novel antimicrobials". The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 1 (3): 156–164. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(01)00092-5. PMID 11871492.
  8. Stover KC, Pham XQ, Erwin AL, Mizoguchi SD, Warrener P, Hickey MJ, Brinkman FSL, Hufnagle WO, Kowalik DJ, Lagrou M, Garber RL, Goltry L, Tolentino E, Westbrock-Wadman S, Yuan Y, Brody LL, Coulter SN, Folger KR, Kas A, Lim R, Smith K, Spencer D, Wong GK-S, Wu Z, Paulsen I, Reizer J, Saier MH, Hancock REW, Lory S, Olson MV (2000). "Complete genome sequence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa: an opportunistic pathogen". Nature. 406 (6799): 956–964. doi:10.1038/35023079. PMID 10984043.
  9. Fjell CD, Hiss JA, Hancock REW, Schneider G (2012). "Designing antimicrobial peptides: Form follows function". Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. 11 (1): 37–51. doi:10.1038/nrd3591. PMID 22173434.
  10. Hancock REW, Haney EF, Gill EE (2016). "The immunology of host defence peptides: Beyond antimicrobial activity". Nat Rev Immunol. 16 (5): 321–334. doi:10.1038/nri.2016.29. PMID 27087664.
  11. Yeung ATY, Hale C, Lee AH, Gill EE, Bushell W, Parry-Smith D, Goulding D, Pickard D, Roumeliotis T, Choudhary J, Thomson N, Skarnes WC, Dougan G, Hancock REW (2017). "Exploiting induced pluripotent stem cell-derived macrophages to unravel key host factors influencing Chlamydia trachomatis pathogenesis". Nature Communications. 8: 15013. Bibcode:2017NatCo...815013Y. doi:10.1038/ncomms15013. PMC 5414054. PMID 28440293.
  12. "Newest University Killam Professors announced". Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  13. "Prix Galien Canada 2012 Research". Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  14. "Find a Recipient". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  15. "CAHS Fellows". Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  16. "Killam Awards for Excellence in Mentoring" (PDF). Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  17. "2009 Recipient". Order of British Columbia. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  18. "Inimex Co-Founder Bob Hancock Receives 2006 Michael Smith Prize". T-Net. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  19. "Past Award Winners". Royal Society of Canada. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  20. "Antimicrobial Research Award (Formerly Cubist-ICAAC Award)". American Society for Microbiology. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  21. "Find a Recipient". The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  22. "Canada Research Chairs". Government of Canada. 29 November 2012. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  23. "Fellows". Royal Society of Canada. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  24. "Inimex Raises US $22 Million in the Fight Against Antibiotic Resistance". Newswire. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
  25. Lindsay, Bethany (September 27, 2016). "UBC professor working on new tool to fight painful, dangerous infections". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
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