Staff Profile
Dr Al Gabriel
Research Associate
- Email: alem.gabriel@ncl.ac.uk
- Address: Translational and Clinical Research Institute
Faculty of Medical Sciences
Newcastle University
Herschel Building - Level 6
Brewery Lane
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU
Qualifications
2011 - PhD Genetics, University of Kent
2006 - BSc. (Hons) Genetics, University of London
Previous Positions
2010-2011 - Research Assistant: University of Oxford
Memberships
BACR, EACR, SIOP, SIOPEN,
Honours and Awards
2018 - £6,473 CCLG Tissue Bank Pilot Grant programme (Principal investigator)
2017 - £500 travel grant from Action Medical Research to attend SIOPEN 2017
2016 - £450 travel grant to attend NCRI 2016, Liverpool
2016 - £450 travel grant from Newcastle University to attend SIOP 2016, Dublin
2015 - €500 travel grant from the European Hematology Association
Roles and Responsibilities
Training and supervision of undergraduate and postgraduate students
Member of Athena Swan Self- Assessment Team (SAT)
Research Interests
Neuroblastoma
Despite advances in neuroblastoma therapy relapse still occurs in 50% of high risk cases and in most high risk cases cure is no longer possible. Recent studies report an increased frequency of recurrent, genetic abnormalities at relapse including segmental chromosomal abnormalities (SCA) and gene mutations for which targeted treatments exist e.g. anaplastic lymphoma kinase gene (ALK) and RAS-MAPK pathway mutations. Identification of new genetic abnormalities at relapse is important to predict response to existing targeted agents e.g. ALK inhibitors, but moreover to identify potential new treatment targets. By studying paired tumours at diagnosis and relapse we are attempting to determine whether these genetic abnormalities are present in a sub-clone at diagnosis, at what frequency, and if so whether we should be considering upfront treatment with targeted therapies
Funding
Little Princess Trust
Action Medical Research
Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity
- Merugu S, Chen L, Gavens E, Gabra H, Brougham M, Makin G, Ng A, Murphy D, Gabriel AS, Robinson ML, Wright JH, Burchill SA, Humphreys A, Bown N, Jamieson D, Tweddle DA. Detection of circulating and disseminated neuroblastoma cells using the Imagestream Imaging Flow Cytometer for use as predictive and pharmacodynamic biomarkers. Clinical Cancer Research 2020, 26(1), 122-134.
- Gabriel AS, Chen L, Evans L, Nakjang S, Bown N, Williamson D, Tweddle DA. Combined Copy Number and Gene Expression Profiling in High Rick Neuroblastoma: A CCLG Pilot Biological Study. In: NCRI 2016. 2016, Liverpool, UK.
- Wright JH, Humphreys A, Gabriel AS, Bown N, Chen L, Jamieson D, Tweddle DA. Imaging flow-cytometer based detection of ALK and MDM2 amplification in neuroblastoma cell lines. In: 48th Annual Congress of the International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP). 2016, Dublin, Ireland: Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
- Gabriel AS, Enshaei A, Taylor J, Erhorn A, Schwab C, Rai L, Fielding A, Goulden N, Vora A, Harrison CJ, Moorman AV. Age specific incidence of partner gene and secondary abnormalities in MLL positive acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). In: 20th Congress of the European Hematology Association. 2015, Vienna, Austria: Ferrata-Storti Foundation/European Hematology Association.
- Gabriel AS, Lafta FM, Schwalbe EC, Nakjang S, Cockell SJ, Iliasova A, Enshaei A, Schwab C, Rand V, Clifford SC, Kinsey SE, Mitchell CD, Vora A, Harrison CJ, Moorman AV, Strathdee G. Epigenetic landscape correlates with genetic subtype but does not predict outcome in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Epigenetics 2015, 10(8), 717-726.
- Al-Shehhi H, Konn ZJ, Schwab CJ, Erhorn A, Barber KE, Wright SL, Gabriel AS, Harrison CJ, Moorman AV. Abnormalities of the der(12)t(12;21) in ETV6-RUNX1 acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Genes, Chromosomes & Cancer 2013, 52(2), 202-213.
- Gabriel AS, Hassold TJ, Thornhill AR, Affara NA, Handyside AH, Griffin DK. An algorithm for determining the origin of trisomy and the positions of chiasmata from SNP genotype data. Chromosome Research 2011, 19(2), 155-163.
- Gabriel AS, Thornhill AR, Ottolini CS, Gordon A, Brown AP, Taylor J, Bennett K, Handyside A, Griffin DK. Array comparative genomic hybridisation on first polar bodies suggests that non-disjunction is not the predominant mechanism leading to aneuploidy in humans. Journal of Medical Genetics 2011, 48(7), 433-437.
- Thornhill A, Gordon A, Taylor J, Bennett K, Emmerson C, Grigorova M, Gabriel A, Atalla N, Menabawey M, Griffin D, Handyside A. Comparative genomic hybridisation (aCGH) to identify unbalanced products associated with specific chromosomal rearrangements. In: 10th International Congress on Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis. 2010, Montpellier: Elsevier.
- Handyside A, Grifo J, Gabriel A, Thornhill A, Griffin D, Ketterson K, Prates R, Tormasi S, Fischer J, Munné S. First clinical application of karyomapping for PGD of Gaucher disease combined with 24 chromosome screening. In: 10th International Congress on Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis. 2010, Montpellier: Elsevier.
- Thornhill AR, Gabriel AS, Gordon A, Griffin DK, Taylor J, Handyside AH. Array CGH for use in clinical preimplantation genetic screening. In: Annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. 2008, Atlanta, Georgia: Elsevier.
- Gabriel AS, Giddings L, Griffin D, Handyside A, Thornhill A. PCR in a single microlitre: A novel platform to analyse single cells for preimplantation genetic diagnosis. In: 24th meeting of the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology. 2008, Barcelona: Oxford journals.