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| Vol. 21, No. 17 |
| September 15, 1999 |
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Dr. Helen Heslop: Exploring Cell and Gene Therapy
"Following patients after treatment over the years is something I really enjoy. It's incredibly satisfying to help them cope with, and ultimately, overcome a serious disease. That makes it all worthwhile." - Dr. Helen Heslop More than 8,000 miles away in the South Pacific, Dr. Helen Heslop grew up in New Zealand, a country rich with rolling hills, dominated by some of the most striking physical features and stunning scenery found in world.
Today, she calls Houston home, given her lead role in the newly created Center for Cell and Gene Therapy. The center, a unique partnership among Baylor College of Medicine, The Methodist Hospital and Texas Children's Hospital, emerged earlier this summer as the first in the world to combine basic science and clinical research with comprehensive pediatric and adult cell and gene therapy transplant units. Dr. Heslop came to Houston in November 1997 from St. Jude's Children Research Hospital as part of the newly recruited cell and gene therapy team led by Dr. Malcolm Brenner. While at St. Jude's she served as principal investigator or co-investigator on several gene transfer and immunotherapy protocols and directed the unrelated donor transplant program. She initially began working with Dr. Brenner in 1986 at the Royal Free Hospital in London. "I was interested in the immunology of bone marrow transplantation and decided to work in his group as he was working on some interesting projects," Dr. Heslop says. With 15 years of experience and a stellar list of accomplishments in hematology and oncology, Dr. Heslop is well equipped in her new position as director of the adult stem cell transplant program, housed at The Methodist Hospital. The unit spans 30,000 square feet and contains 15 inpatient beds, an infusion area and an outpatient unit. Dr. Heslop's current research interests include hemopoietic stem cell transplantation, gene therapy and immunotherapy. While Houston can hardly compare to the picturesque beauty of her native homeland, she is happy to be here. "We ultimately chose Houston because of the opportunities to apply cell and gene therapy approaches to not only cancer but other diseases as well. With this unique tri-institutional partnership, we were offered resources to do innovative studies and develop protocols and new technologies," says Dr. Heslop, who has lived in the U.S. for the past 10 years. "Frankly, with specialized research and patient care of this kind, it just wouldn't be possible in New Zealand," she says. Today, Dr. Heslop feels she has the best of both worlds since she is able to split her time equally between research and clinical care. Making the rounds at both The Methodist Hospital and Texas Children's Hospital, she spends about 15 weeks a year tending to inpatient care of pre- and post-transplant patients. "Following patients after treatment over the years is something I really enjoy," says Dr. Heslop. "It's incredibly satisfying to help them cope with, and ultimately, overcome a serious disease. That makes it all worthwhile." Dr. Heslop is motivated by many factors. "We're still at a point where we can't do everything for the patient. However, I'm excited by the opportunity to take what we learn in the labs and apply that, hopefully, to impact clinical outcomes," says Dr. Heslop. Like any other researcher and physician, some of Dr. Heslop's days are filled with frustration - mainly created by bureaucracy, insurance and the like. "It really diverts your attention from the task at hand and you find yourself spending way too much time on those issues," she says. However, for her, the good days overwhelmingly outweigh the bad. Through her innovative research studying unrelated donor transplants, Dr. Heslop and her research collaborator, Cliona Rooney, made an important discovery. Patients who were at high risk of developing a secondary malignancy, called EBV lymphoma, could be protected by specialized T cells grown from donor cells in the laboratory. Drawn to medicine at an early age, becoming a doctor truly was in her blood. Dr. Heslop's father is a surgeon and her mother a research pathologist in New Zealand. "When I was a young child I didn't intend to become a doctor. It wasn't until I was about 15 years old, that I decided I wanted to study medicine." - GINA JOHNSON
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