ZeBraX: Brain Cancer and Toxicology Research
Our lab develops innovative, high-throughput platforms for early-stage drug discovery in brain cancer, with a focus on medulloblastoma. As part of the ZeBraX project, we use zebrafish xenotransplantation models to assess both toxicity and therapeutic efficacy of candidate compounds in vivo.
We have focused in developing a robust platform in which we perform orthotopic transplantation of human brain tumor cells into zebrafish larvae and validate the model to ensure biological relevance and model fidelity.
We use advanced imaging technologies—including the VAST BioImager, and confocal microscopy—for automated, real-time analysis of tumor growth, dissemination, and drug response. Detailed toxicity is evaluated via automated morphometric screening, while efficacy is assessed by quantifying tumor burden in vivo and studying cellular phenotypes in histopathological samples.
This scalable, cost-effective, and ethically favorable system helps accelerate the identification of safer, targeted and to study drug mechanisms of action of therapies for brain tumors.
People involved:
We currently have open positions for graduate students.
If you have a strong interest, please contact Dr. Veronica Akle.