| Title: | Assistant Professor |
| Department: | Department of Anatomy, Department of Clinical Diagnosis & Department of Physiology/Biochemistry & Pathology/Microbiology |
| hkhella@cmcc.ca |
I am an Assistant Professor at the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College (CMCC) and actively involved in teaching a number of basic as well as clinical sciences courses. I am an MD with a PhD degree from University of Toronto, an innovative, dynamic, independent and creative thinking health care professional, researcher and teacher. In addition to broad clinical experience, I have diverse experience in several research fields from cancer research to chronic diseases. I obtained my medical degree and MSc degree from Egypt and was appointed as a faculty member at the Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Suez Canal University. Also, I have extensive clinical experience in diverse health care systems. I joined the Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto as a PhD Student. This was followed by Postdoctoral fellowship training at St. Michael's Hospital. My hard work was rewarded by receiving many prestigious awards as well as a strong record of peer-reviewed articles, abstracts and conference presentations. I initiated and conducted multiple successful projects in the field of miRNAs, kidney cancer and low back pain research. In the field of low back pain, my research is mainly focused on exploring the molecular basis of low back pain and exploring the role of miRNAs as key regulatory molecules in the inflammatory process. This will help in more understanding of the pathogenesis of low back pain and can lead to new biomarker discovery for this common distressing complaint. In the field of kidney cancer, my research is mainly focused on exploring the role of miRNAs in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) tumour progression. I tested the clinical utility of miRNAs as prognostic and predictive biomarkers in RCC in a large cohort of patients. I identified the miRNAs that are dysregulated in metastatic renal cell carcinoma compared to primary renal cell carcinoma and validated this signature on primary and metastatic RCC tissues. Also, I tested the effect of changing the level of these miRNAs on cellular proliferation, invasion, and migration in RCC cell line models. My research showed that miRNAs play an important role in RCC progression and represent promising prognostic and predictive biomarkers in RCC. My research results can pave the way towards the development of novel targeted therapies.
Molecular pathology; Low Back Pain; Cytokines; miRNA; Biomarker discovery; Inflammation; Molecular Diagnosis; Renal Cell Carcinoma; Precision medicine; Targeted therapy
1. Khella HWZ, Cusimano R, Butany J. Morphological and Molecular Features of Cardiac Tumors. Canadian Journal of pathology. 2020 (In Press)
2. Khella HWZ, Yousef GM. Translational Research: Empowering the role of the cytopathologist and pathologists. Cancer Cytopathol. 2018 Oct;126(10):831-838
3. Damayanti NP, Budka JA, Khella HWZ, Ferris MW, Ku SY, Kauffman EC, Wood AC, Ahmed K, Chintala VN, Adelaiye-Ogala R, Elbanna M, Orillion AR, Chintala S, Kao C, Linehan WM, Yousef GM, Hollenhorst P, Pili R. Therapeutic targeting of TFE3/IRS-1/PI3K/mTOR axis in translocation renal cell carcinoma. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Jul 30.
4. Khella HWZ, Daniel N, Youssef L, Scorilas A, Nofech-Mozes R, Mirham L, Krylov SN, Lianidou E, Krizova A, Finelli A, Cheng Y, Yousef GM. miR-10b is a Prognostic Marker in Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma, J Clin Pathol. 2017 Oct;70(10):854-859.
5. Khella HWZ, Butz H, Ding Q, Rotondo F, Evans KR, Kupchak P, Dharsee M, Latif A, Pasic MD, Lianidou E, Bjarnason GA, Yousef GM. miR-221/222 are Involved in Response to Sunitinib Treatment in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma. Mol Ther. 2015 Nov;23(11):1748-58.
6. Butz H, Szabó PM, Khella HW, Nofech-Mozes R, Patocs A, Yousef GM. miRNA-target network reveals miR124as a key miRNA contributing to clear cell renal cell carcinoma aggressive behaviour by targeting CAV1 and FLOT1. Oncotarget. 2015 May 20;6(14):12543-57.
7. Khella HW, Scorilas A, Mozes R, Mirham L, Lianidou E, Krylov SN, Lee JY, Ordon M, Stewart R, Jewett MA, Yousef GM. Low expression of miR-126 is a prognostic marker for metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma. Am J Pathol. 2015 Mar;185(3):693-703.
8. Khella HWZ, Bakhet M., Allo G., Jewett MAS, Girgis A.H., Latif A., Girgis H., Von Both I., Bjarnason G. A., Yousef GM. miR-192, miR-194 and miR-215: A Convergent miRNA Network Suppressing Tumor Progression in Renal Cell Carcinoma. Carcinogenesis. 2013 Oct ;34(10):2231-2239.
9. Khella HWZ, Bakhet M, Lichner Z, Romaschin AD, Jewett MA, Yousef GM. MicroRNAs in Kidney Disease: An Emerging Understanding. Am J Kidney Dis. 2013 May;61(5):798-808.
10. Khella HWZ, White NMA., Faragalla H., Gabril M., Boazak M., Dorian D., Khalil B., Antonios H., Bao T.T., Pasic M.D., Honey R.J., Stewart R., Pace K.T., Bjarnason G.A., Jewett MAS., & Yousef GM. Exploring the role of miRNAs in renal
cell carcinoma progression and metastasis through bioinformatic and experimental analyses. Tumour.Biol., 2012 Feb;33(1):131-140.
