Alaa Refaat, PhD

Alaa Refaat, PhD

  • Senior Scientist

Departments

Education

PhD – School of Medical and Pharmaceutical sciences, University of Toyama, Japan
MSc – Faculty of Pharmacy, Cairo University, Egypt
BSc – Faculty of Pharmacy, Misr International University, Egypt

Honors and Awards

  • 2018  Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions Individual Fellowship, EU Commission
  • 2015 – 2016  International Fellowship Program, TAKEDA Science Foundation, Japan   
  • 2015  Researcher Links - Newton fund, British Council, UK
  • 2013  Short-term grant, Science & Technology Development Fund, Egypt
  • 2008 - 2011  Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology Scholarship, Japan
  • 2006 - 2008  Academy of Scientific Research &Technology research funding award, Egypt

About

As a highly skilled and experienced cancer researcher with a PhD from Japan, and having worked at various prestigious research institutes across Japan, Europe, and Egypt, I am honored to bring my extensive knowledge and expertise to my current role as a Staff Scientist at St. Jude. My research at St. Jude primarily focuses on translational research of pediatric cancers, with a particular emphasis on identifying novel therapies for Pediatric Rhabdoid tumors. My contributions to the field include my involvement in ground-breaking studies on the use of Molecular Glues in Cancer, in addition to my extensive efforts in identifying small molecules to disrupt the oncogenic fusion proteins and conducting drug screenings using FDA-approved drugs and clinical candidates to identify modulators of Cell death in Cancer.

I am committed to collaborating with other groups within St. Jude and external institutions to further advance cancer research and develop new therapies for patients. My unwavering dedication to the field and passion for contributing to the global fight against cancer are reflected in my career trajectory, which has been marked by notable achievements and a track record of success.

Research Interests

  • Exploring innovative approaches and utilizing cutting-edge technology to identify promising treatments that can make a significant difference in the lives of young patients.
  • Studying how cancer works and reacts to different treatments so we can create personalized therapies that work better.
  • Understanding why cancer sometimes stops responding to treatment and how we can help it start working again.
  • Assessing the potential heme toxicities of projected cancer therapies.

Contact Information

Alaa Refaat, PhD Chemical Biology & Therapeutics MS 1000, Room E9062 St. Jude Children's Research Hospital 262 Danny Thomas Place Memphis, TN 38105-3678

Selected Publications

B. Wang, Y. Saito, M. Nishimura, Z. Ren, L. H. Tjan, A. Refaat, R. Iida, R. Tsukamoto, M. Komatsu, T. Itoh, T. Matozaki, Y. Mori.  An animal model that mimics human herpesvirus 6B pathogenesis.  J Virol., 94(6):e01851-19, 2020

A. Reda, A. Refaat, A. Abd-Rabou, A. Mahmoud, M. Adel, S. Sabet, and S. Ali. Role of Mitochondria in rescuing glycolytically inhibited subpopulation of triple negative but not hormone-responsive breast cancer cells.  Sci Rep., 9:13748, 2019.

N. Forsythe, A. Refaat*,    A. Javadi, H. Khawaja, J. Weir, H. Emam, W. Allen, F. Burkamp, V. Popovici, P. Jithesh, C. Isella, M. Labonte, I. Mills, P. Johnston, S. Van Schaeybroeck. The unfolded protein response: a novel therapeutic target for poor prognostic BRAF mutant colorectal cancer. Mol Cancer Ther.   17(6):1280-1290, 2018. *Equal contribution.

A. Refaat, M. Owis, S. Abdelhamed, I. Saiki, H. Sakurai.  Retrospective screening of microarray data to identify candidate IFN-inducible genes in a HTLV-1 transformed model. Oncol Lett., 15(4):4753-4758, 2018.

A. Refaat, Pararasa C, Arif M, Brown J, Carmichael A, Ali S, Sakurai H, Griffiths H. Bardoxolone-methyl inhibits migration and metabolism in MCF7 cells.  Free Radic Res., 51(2): 211-221, 2017.

S. Zaidi*, A. Refaat*, Y. Zhou, J. Muhammad, I. Saiki, H. Sakurai, T. Sugiyama. Helicobacter pylori Induces phosphorylation of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor via p38/ERK activation in gastric epithelial cells in Heparin Binding-Epidermal Growth Factor independent manner.  Helicobacter, 20(5):381-9, 2015. *Equal contribution.

A. Refaat, A. Dimeng, Y. Zhou, M. Kawanishi, M. Shin, S. Abdelhamed, R. Tomaru,  K. Koizumi S. Yokoyama, I. Saiki, H. Sakurai.   Role of tyrosine kinase-independent phosphorylation of EGFR with activating mutation in cisplatin-treated lung cancer cells. Biochem Biophys Res Commun., 458(4):856-61, 2015.

A. Refaat, S. Abdelhamed, H. Yagita, H. Inoue, S. Yokoyama, Y. Hayakawa, I. Saiki. Berberine enhances TRAIL (tumor necrosis factor-related apoptosis-inducing ligand)-mediated apoptosis in breast cancer. Oncol Lett., 6(3):840-4, 2013.

A. Refaat, Y. Zhou, S. Suzuki, I. Takasaki, K. Koizumi, S. Yamaoka, Y. Tabuchi, I. Saiki, H. Sakurai. Distinct roles of TAK1/c-Rel and IRF4 pathways in HTLV-1 infected Th17 cells producing IL-9. J Biol Chem., 286(24):21092-9, 2011.

S. Suzuki, Y. Zhou, A. Refaat, I. Takasaki, K. Koizumi, S. Yamaoka, Y. Tabuchi, I. Saiki, H. Sakurai. HTLV-1 manipulates interferon regulatory signals By controlling TAK1-IRF3 and IRF4. J Biol Chem., 285(7):4441–6, 2009.

Last update: June 2020

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