David Stojdl

Dr. David Stojdl pioneered the exploration of host-virus interactions critical to oncolytic therapy to guide the clinical development of more effective virus platforms. At the Ottawa Regional Cancer Centre, he first identified VSV as an oncolytic virus and defined the archetypal role of interferon signaling in tumor-specific oncolytic virus targeting. Since joining the CHEO Research Institute in 2004, Dr. Stojdl has discovered and developed several novel oncolytic vector platforms, including the Maraba oncolytic virus platform. Dr. Stojdl also directs the CHEO Automated Screening Centre (CASC), leveraging state-of-the-art high-throughput robotic screening technology to uncover new insights for the clinical development of oncolytic virus biotherapies. Dr. Stojdl is a professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Ottawa. He was a scientific co-founder and consultant to Jennerex Biotherapeutics (later acquired by SillaJen Biotherapeutics). He received a Ph.D. from the University of Ottawa and an M.S. and B.S. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Western Ontario.