About

Darell Doty Bigner is the E. L. and Lucille F. Jones Cancer Distinguished Research Professor in the School of Medicine at Duke University. He holds multiple titles including Professor of Neurosurgery, Professor of Surgery, and Professor of Pathology. He serves as the Chief of the Division of Experimental Pathology and is a member of the Duke Cancer Institute. His professional roles indicate a focus on cancer research, experimental pathology, and neurosurgery, contributing to the advancement of knowledge in these fields through his leadership and research activities at Duke.

Research topics

• Biology
• Genetics
• Computational biology
• Cancer research
• Evolutionary biology
• Internal medicine
• Oncology
• Medicine
• Immunology
• Computer Science
• Virology
• Statistics
• World Wide Web
• Cell biology
• Bioinformatics
• Mathematics

Selected publications

• Supplementary Figure S6 from Lymphotropic Virotherapy Induces DC and High Endothelial Venule Inflammation, Promoting the Antitumor Efficacy of Intratumor Virus Administration

  2026-02-03

  articleOpen access

  <p>Supplementary Figure S6. a-c, Extended data relating to Figure 5. Umap of snRNAseq of combined samples from three intervals (see Figure 5D); individual cell types are labeled (a). Umap of cells identified as T cells in a; individual subsets are labeled (see Supplementary Table S2 for extended data) (b). Proportion of cell types identified in a by time point (c). d, e, Gating strategy used (extended data relating to Figure 5E, F).</p>

  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary Figure S3 from Lymphotropic Virotherapy Induces DC and High Endothelial Venule Inflammation, Promoting the Antitumor Efficacy of Intratumor Virus Administration

  2026-02-03

  articleOpen access

  <p>Supplementary Figure S3. Dual-site (IT+CPLI) PVSRIPO in CT2A-bearing mice changes immune cell composition in cLN (extended data relating to Figure 3).</p>

  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary Figure S1 from Lymphotropic Virotherapy Induces DC and High Endothelial Venule Inflammation, Promoting the Antitumor Efficacy of Intratumor Virus Administration

  2026-02-03

  articleOpen access

  <p>Supplementary Figure S1. Extended data on cLN phenotypes after IT PVSRIPO infusion in CT2A mouse glioma.</p>

  PublisherDOI

• Data from Lymphotropic Virotherapy Induces DC and High Endothelial Venule Inflammation, Promoting the Antitumor Efficacy of Intratumor Virus Administration

  2026-02-03 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  <div>Abstract<p>Tumor-draining lymph nodes are a pivotal site for antitumor T-cell priming. However, their mechanistic roles in cancer immune surveillance and immunotherapy response remain poorly defined. Intratumor (IT) virotherapy generates antitumor T-cell immunity through multifaceted engagement of innate antiviral inflammation. In this study, we identify type-I interferon (IFNI) signaling in glioma-draining cervical lymph nodes as a mediator of IT polio virotherapy. Transient IFNI signaling after IT administration was rescued by cervical perilymphatic infusion (CPLI) virotherapy, targeting cervical lymph nodes directly. Dual-site (IT plus CPLI) virotherapy induced profound inflammatory reprogramming of cervical lymph nodes, enhanced viral RNA replication and IFNI signaling in dendritic cells and high endothelial venules, augmented antiglioma efficacy in mice, and was associated with T-cell activation in patients with recurrent glioblastoma. A phase II clinical trial of IT plus CPLI polio virotherapy is ongoing (NCT06177964). This study implicates the lymphatic system as a virotherapy target and demonstrates that CPLI virotherapy has the potential to complement brain tumor immunotherapy.</p><p><a href="https://aacrjournals.org/cancerimmunolres/article-abstract/doi/10.1158/2326-6066.CIR-25-1596" target="_blank"><i>See related Spotlight by Kaufman, p. 182</i></a></p></div>

  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary Figure S4 from Lymphotropic Virotherapy Induces DC and High Endothelial Venule Inflammation, Promoting the Antitumor Efficacy of Intratumor Virus Administration

  2026-02-03

  articleOpen access

  <p>Supplementary Figure S4. a,b, Extended data relating to Figure 4C-G. MECA-79+ HEV, which harbor (-)strand vRNA in CT2A glioma-bearing mice after dual site (IT+CPLI) PVSRIPO, stain positive for the poliovirus receptor CD155.</p>

  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary Table S2 from Lymphotropic Virotherapy Induces DC and High Endothelial Venule Inflammation, Promoting the Antitumor Efficacy of Intratumor Virus Administration

  2026-02-03

  articleOpen access

  <p>Supplementary Table S2. FISH probe sets (extended data relating to Figures 2C, 4).</p>

  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary Figure S5 from Lymphotropic Virotherapy Induces DC and High Endothelial Venule Inflammation, Promoting the Antitumor Efficacy of Intratumor Virus Administration

  2026-02-03

  articleOpen access

  <p>Supplementary Figure S5. PVSRIPO is shed in phosphatidyl-serine enriched vesicles from A375 melanoma cells (extended data relating to Figure 4G).</p>

  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary Table 1 from Lymphotropic Virotherapy Induces DC and High Endothelial Venule Inflammation, Promoting the Antitumor Efficacy of Intratumor Virus Administration

  2026-02-03

  articleOpen access

  <p>Antibodies used in flow-cytometry analyses</p>

  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary Table S3 from Lymphotropic Virotherapy Induces DC and High Endothelial Venule Inflammation, Promoting the Antitumor Efficacy of Intratumor Virus Administration

  2026-02-03

  articleOpen access

  <p>Supplementary Table S3. Top-20 differentially expressed genes in tumor-infiltrating T cell subsets (extended data relating to Figure 5D).</p>

  PublisherDOI

• Supplementary Figure S2 from Lymphotropic Virotherapy Induces DC and High Endothelial Venule Inflammation, Promoting the Antitumor Efficacy of Intratumor Virus Administration

  2026-02-03

  articleOpen access

  <p>Supplementary Figure S2. Differences in gene expression and hallmark pathways between single-site (IT or CPLI) and dual-site (IT plus CPLI) treatment cohorts compared to mock treatment as shown.</p>

  PublisherDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant R37CA011898

  NIH · $12.4M · 2013

• NIH Grant P01CA15429101A1

  NIH · $3.3M · 2017

• NIH Grant P50NS02002329

  NIH · $2.5M · 2014

• NIH Grant R01CA011898

  NIH · $698k · 1988

• NIH Grant P20CA096890

  NIH · $1000k · 2004

Frequent coauthors

• C. Hawkins

  University of Portsmouth

  1401 shared

• Stefan M. Pfister

  University Hospital Heidelberg

  1316 shared

• James T. Rutka

  Hospital for Sick Children

  1279 shared

• Diane K. Birks

  1225 shared

• William A. Weiss

  1055 shared

• D. Picard

  1050 shared

• N. Foreman

  1050 shared

• P. Lichter

  Heidelberg University

  1050 shared

Awards & honors

• E. L. and Lucille F. Jones Cancer Distinguished Research Pro…