Dalia Elgamal, PhD | Eppley Institute | University of Nebraska Medical Center

Assistant Professor, Eppley Institute

Tel: 402-559-5241 (Office),
E-mail: Dalia ElGamal

Research Interests

Lymphoid Malignancies (B-cell leukemia and lymphoma)

Summary of Research

My research focuses on (i) understanding the pathogenesis of B-cell malignancies; (ii) evaluating novel targeted therapies for incurable leukemias and lymphomas such as chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL); and (iii) establishing novel therapeutic approaches to reverse inherent immune defects - with the overall aim of translating effective therapies to the clinic. Specifically, my lab explores the dynamic interplay between malignant B-cells and their tumor microenvironment through a wide array of cell-based assays coupled with high-throughput omics approaches to elucidate key tumor promoting factors/pathways and identify "druggable" targets for therapeutic intervention, which are further evaluated utilizing established mouse models of aggressive disease.

Preclinical studies in the laboratory are focused on novel therapies targeted against key survival and tumor-promoting factors in B-cell malignancies including B-cell receptor kinases, nuclear factor-kappa B pathway, as well as epigenetic factors, namely bromodomain and extra-terminal (BET) family proteins.

Lab Members

Dalia ElGamal (PI)
Alexandria Eiken (PhD student)
Audrey Smith (PhD student)
Sydney Skrupa (PhD student)

Previous Lab Members
Dalia Moore (Research Technologist)

Summer Undergraduate Students:
Lelisse Umeta (INBRE, 2018) - Julie Ceniceros (SURP-2020) - Megan Rupp (SURP-2021)

Lab photo 2021

ElGamal 2021

From left to right: Dalia E., Alex E., Sydney S, Audrey S.

Lab photo 2020 -- Mostly Virtual

ElGamal 2020

Lab photo 2019

From left to right: Audrey S., Alex E., Dalia E., and Dalia M.

Opportunities

We are looking for an enthusiastic postdoctoral research associate interested in studying the pathogenesis of B-cell malignancies and evaluating novel targeted therapies. If interested in our research please apply through the listing open on the HR Job website of the University of Nebraska Medical Center (https://unmc.peopleadmin.com/postings/46073) and provide us with your CV (including contact information for 2-3 referees) and statement of research interests.

Relevant Publications

1- Pal D^*, Vann KR*, Joshi S, Sahar NE, Morales GA, El-Gamal, D, Kutateladze TG^±, Durden DL^±. The BTK/PI3K/BRD4 axis inhibitor SRX3262 overcomes Ibrutinib resistance in mantle cell lymphoma. *Equal first author contribution. ^±Senior authors contributed equally. iSCIENCE , 2021. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2021.102931

2- Gilham D*, Smith AL*, Fu L*, Moore DY, Muralidharan A, Reid SPM, Stotz SC, Johansson JO, Sweeney M, Wong NCW, Kulikowski E^± , El-Gamal D^±. Bromodomain and extraterminal protein inhibitor, apabetalone (RVX-208), reduces ACE2 expression and attenuates SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro. *Equal first author contribution. ^±Senior authors contributed equally. Biomedicines. 2021 Apr 18;9(4):437. PMCID: PMC8072876.

3- Ozer G*, El-Gamal D*, Powell B*, Hing ZH, Blachly JS, Harrington BK, Mitchell S, Grieselhuber N, Williams K, Tzung-Hue L, Zhang J, Ma Y, Zhang Y, Alinari L, Baiocchi RA, Cannon M, Beaver L, Goettl VM, Lucas DM, Woyach JA, Sampath D, Lehman AM, Yu L, Spevak W, Shi S, Severson P, Shellooe R, Carias H, Tsang G, Dong K, Ewing T, Marimuthu A, Tantoy C, Walters J, Sanftner L, Rezaei H, Nespi M, Matusow B, Habets G, Ibrahim P, Zhang C, Mathe E, Bollag G^±, Byrd JC^±, Lapalombella R^±. BRD4 profiling identifies critical Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia oncogenic circuits and reveals sensitivity to PLX51107, a novel structurally distinct BET inhibitor. *Equal first author contribution. ^±Senior authors contributed equally. Cancer Discov. 2018 Apr;8(4):458-77. PMCID: PMC5882533. Article highlighted in “In This Issue” Cancer Discov. 2018; 8:371-74.

4- Bottoni A, Rizzotto L, Lai TH, Liu C, Smith LL, Mantel R, Reiff S, El-Gamal D, Larkin K, Johnson AJ, Lapalombella R, Lehman A, Plunkett W, Byrd JC, Blachly JS, Woyach JA, Sampath D. Targeting BTK through microRNA in chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Blood. 2016 Dec;29;128(26):3101-3112. PMCID: PMC5201097.

5- Hing ZA*, Joyce Fung HY*, Ranganathan P*, Mitchell S, El-Gamal D, Woyach JA, Williams K, Goettl VM, Smith JL, Yu X, Meng X, Sun Q, Cagatay T, MacMillan JB, Lehman AM, Lucas DM, Baloglu E, Shacham S, Kauffman M, Byrd JC^±, Chook YM^±, Garzon R^±, Lapalombella R^±. Next generation XPO1 inhibitor shows improved efficacy and in vivo tolerability in hematologic malignancies. *Equal first author contribution. ^±Senior authors contributed equally. Leukemia. 2016 Dec;30(12):2364-72. PMCID: PMC5143172.

6- El-Gamal D, Rao SP, Holzer M, Hallström S, Haybaeck J, Gauster M, Wadsack C, Kozina A, Frank S, Schicho R, Schuligoi R, Heinemann A, Marsche G. The urea decomposition product cyanate promotes endothelial dysfunction. Kidney Int. 2014 Nov;86(5):923-31. PMCID: PMC4216595.

7- El-Gamal D, Williams K, LaFollette TD, Cannon M, Blachly JS, Zhong Y, Woyach JA, Williams E, Awan FT, Jones J, Andritsos L, Maddocks K, Wu CH, Chen CS, Lehman A, Zhang X, Lapalombella R^±, Byrd JC^±. PKC-β as a therapeutic target in CLL: PKC inhibitor AEB071 demonstrates preclinical activity in CLL. Blood. 2014 Aug 28;124(9):1481-91. ^±Senior authors contributed equally. PMCID: PMC4148770.

8- Zhong Y, El-Gamal D, Dubovsky JA, Beckwith KA, Harrington BK, Williams KE, Goettl VM, Jha S, Mo X, Jones JA, Flynn JM, Maddocks KJ, Andritsos LA, McCauley D, Shacham S, Kauffman M, Byrd JC, Lapalombella R. Selinexor suppresses downstream effectors of B-cell activation, proliferation, and migration in chronic lymphocytic leukemia cells. Leukemia. 2014 May;28(5):1158-63. PMCID: PMC4013224.

9- El-Gamal D, Holzer M, Gauster M, Schicho R, Binder V, Konya V, Wadsack C, Schuligoi R, Heinemann A, Marsche G. Cyanate is a novel inducer of endothelial ICAM-1 expression. Antioxid Redox Signal. 2012 Jan 15; 16(2): 129-37. PMCID: PMC3222099.

Full list of publications