Dr. Elkabets is a highly talented and able researcher. In addition to being lead author on three articles published during his master’s and doctoral studies, he published three more articles as lead author in leading cancer journals during post-doctoral studies. His recent research findings have received international acclaim and led to a greater understanding of the relationship between the genomic structure of cancer cells and anticancer treatments offered to the patient, resulting in changes in therapeutic indications of the use of PI3K inhibitors in clinical practice.
Personalized medicine is particularly challenging because of the differences between the various medical centers. Dr. Elkabets’ research group is investigating the molecular level of the response of specific patients to targeted therapies such as Erbitux, for example, with the aim of improving response rates of patients. The interaction between head and neck clinicians and Elkabets’ lab members is necessary to examine specific research conjectures on the one hand and scanning dozens of possible drugs on the other. The research approach of his lab combining basic research based on clinical issues and questions and a direct and close connection with the attending physician, is an example of multidisciplinary research becoming a practical translation of basic research.