Athar Khalil

Athar Khalil

Postdoctoral Fellow

Case Western Reserve University

Department of Genetics & Genome Sciences

I am interested in the fields of translational genomics and molecular oncology.

My PhD focused on the molecular signatures of lung cancer. We were the first to discover that the TBX2 subfamily of transcription factors are tumor suppressors in lung adenocarcinoma. In human patients, these genes are generally deregulated by hypermethylation, which we found promotes oncogenesis and tumor progression in cancer cell lines. Intriguingly, each gene activates histone demethylase pathways in a manner that mimics azacitidine therapy.

In separate projects, I am using multi-omics approaches to understand several familial-inherited diseases, including congenital heart malformations, hearing loss syndromes, and skin anomalies.

I am currently developing a live mouse model, using the Tuba-seq technology, to further understand the role of the TBX2 subfamily in KRAS-driven lung cancers.

Education

  • PhD in Biomedical Sciences / Molecular Oncology, 2018

    American University of Beirut

  • M.S. Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, 2015

    American University of Beirut

  • B.S. Medical Laboratory Sciences, 2013

    American University of Beirut