Omar Alhalabi, M.D.
Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine
Present Title & Affiliation
Primary Appointment
Assistant Professor, Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology, Division of Cancer Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Education & Training
Degree-Granting Education
| 2013 | Damascus University Faculty of Medicine, Damascus, SYR, MD, Doctor of Medicine |
Postgraduate Training
| 2017-2020 | Clinical Fellowship, Hematology/Oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer, Houston, TX |
| 2014-2017 | Clinical Residency, Internal Medicine Residency, Beaumont Health, Royal Oak, MI |
| 2013-2014 | Research Fellowship, Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH |
Board Certifications
| 2020 | American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), Oncology |
| 2020 | American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), Hematology |
| 2017 | American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), Internal Medicine |
Experience & Service
Institutional Committee Activities
Committee Member, MD Anderson Cancer Center Renal Cell Carcinoma Research and Protocol Committee, 2020 - Present
Committee Member, MD Anderson Cancer Center Urothelial Carcinoma Research and Protocol Commitee, 2020 - Present
Committee Member, MD Anderson Cancer Center Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Education Committee, 2019 - 2020
Committee Member, MD Anderson Cancer Center Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Wellness Committee, 2018 - 2020
Committee Member, MD Anderson Cancer Center GME Diversity Committee, 2017 - 2020
Council Representative, Beaumont Health Resident and Fellow Council, 2014 - 2017
Honors & Awards
| 2022 | Conquer Cancer Foundation - Career Development Award, American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) |
| 2020 | Hematology/Medical Oncology Fellowship Humanitas Award – Recognition for dignity and compassionate patient care |
| 2020 | Waun Ki Hong Award for Achievement in Clinical Investigation |
| 2020 | The Thomas H. and Mayme P. Scott Fellowship in Cancer Research – Recognition of Research Excellence Award |
| 2020 | 6th Annual Immuno-Oncology Young Investigators’ Forum (IOYIF) – oral presentation |
| 2020 | AACR Molecular Biology in Clinical Oncology (MBCO) Virtual Workshop, |
| 2020 | ASCO/AACR Methods in Clinical Cancer Research (MCCR) Virtual Workshop, |
| 2019 | Top award recipients of the 2019 Texas Society of Clinical Oncology (TxSCO) Fellows Abstract Competition |
| 2019 | American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Conquer Cancer Foundation - Young Investigator Award for research proposal, “Investigation of combination therapy with pemetrexed, A2BR inhibitor, and anti-PD-L1 in MTAP deficient bladder cancer.” |
| 2017 | Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) - Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Award (HETA) |
| 2016 | 2nd place clinical vignette oral presentation, American College of Physicians, Michigan chapter |
| 2016 | Medical ICU resident of the month, Beaumont Health |
| 2015 | Nightfloat Intern of the month, Beaumont Health |
| 2015 | 3rd place basic science research oral presentation, American College of Physicians, Michigan chapter., |
| 2013 | Top ten graduates, Damascus University, Faculty of Medicine |
| 2006 | Baccalauréat très honorable avec félicitations du jury (Baccalaureate degree with honors, 2nd rank in the country), Ministry of Education, Syria |
Selected Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles
- Alhalabi O, Subbiah V. Managing Cancer Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond. Trends Cancer 6(7):533-535, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32386875.
- Alhalabi O, Iyer S, Subbiah V. Testing for COVID-19 in patients with cancer. EClinicalMedicine 23:100374, 2020. e-Pub 2020. PMID: 32368727.
- Alhalabi O, Campbell M, Shah A, Siefker-Radtke A, Gao J. Emerging treatments in advanced urothelial cancer. Curr Opin Oncol 32(3):232-239, 2020. PMID: 32209822.
- Albittar AA, Alhalabi O, Glitza Oliva IC. Immunotherapy for Melanoma. Adv Exp Med Biol 1244:51-68, 2020. PMID: 32301010.
- Alhalabi O, Rafei H, Bilen MA, Shah AY. Current Landscape of Immunotherapy in Genitourinary Malignancies. Adv Exp Med Biol 1244:107-147, 2020. PMID: 32301013.
- Alhalabi O, Karam JA, Tannir NM. Evolving role of cytoreductive nephrectomy in metastatic renal cell carcinoma of variant histology. Curr Opin Urol 29(5):521-525, 2019. PMID: 31305271.
- Alhalabi O, Rafei H, Shah A, Siefker-Radtke A, Campbell M, Gao J. Targeting advanced urothelial carcinoma-developing strategies. Curr Opin Oncol 31(3):207-215, 2019. PMID: 30844889.
- Alhalabi O, Shah AY, Lemke EA, Gao J. Current and Future Landscape of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Urothelial Cancer. Oncology (Williston Park) 33(1):11-8, 2019. PMID: 30731013.
- Parkes A, Warneke CL, Clifton K, Al-Awadhi A, Oke O, Pestana RC, Alhalabi O, Litton JK, Hortobagyi GN. Prognostic Factors in Patients with Metastatic Breast Cancer with Bone-Only Metastases. Oncologist 23(11):1282-1288, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 30120166.
- Yadav S, Ladkany R, Yadav D, Alhalabi O, Khaddam S, Isaac D, Cardenas PY, Zakalik D. Impact of BRCA Mutation Status on Survival of Women With Triple-negative Breast Cancer. Clin Breast Cancer 18(5):e1229-e1235, 2018. e-Pub 2017. PMID: 29402697.
- Wei C, Wei C, Alhalabi O, Chen L. T-cell/histiocyte-rich large B-cell lymphoma in a child: A case report and review of literature. World J Clin Cases 6(6):121-126, 2018. PMID: 29988902.
- Stavrou EX, Fang C, Bane KL, Long AT, Naudin C, Kucukal E, Gandhi A, Brett-Morris A, Mumaw MM, Izadmehr S, Merkulova A, Reynolds CC, Alhalabi O, Nayak L, Yu WM, Qu CK, Meyerson HJ, Dubyak GR, Gurkan UA, Nieman MT, Sen Gupta A, Renné T, Schmaier AH. Factor XII and uPAR upregulate neutrophil functions to influence wound healing. J Clin Invest 128(3):944-959, 2018. e-Pub 2018. PMID: 29376892.
- Gjeorgjievski M, Alhalabi O, Kazanji N, Desai T. Clostridium septicum arthritis and aortitis in a patient with underlying colon cancer. QJM 109(7):481-2, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 26803153.
- Tagami T, Alhalabi O, Ward N, Huang J. Paraneoplastic Dermatosis in a Patient with Anaplastic Large-Cell Lymphoma: Case Report and Literature Review. Dermatopathology (Basel) 3(2):39-43, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27504444.
- Gittleman HR*, Merkulova A*, Alhalabi O*, Stavrou EX, Veigl ML, Barnholtz-Sloan JS, Schmaier AH. A Cross-sectional Study of KLKB1 and PRCP Polymorphisms in Patient Samples with Cardiovascular Disease. Front Med (Lausanne) 3:17, 2016. e-Pub 2016. PMID: 27200353.
- Stavrou EX, Fang C, Merkulova A, Alhalabi O, Grobe N, Antoniak S, Mackman N, Schmaier AH. Reduced thrombosis in Klkb1-/- mice is mediated by increased Mas receptor, prostacyclin, Sirt1, and KLF4 and decreased tissue factor. Blood 125(4):710-9, 2015. e-Pub 2014. PMID: 25339356.
Abstracts
- Alhalabi, O., et al.. Outcomes and the impact of genomic characteristics on patients with metastatic urothelial carcinoma enrolled in early phase trials. Journal of Clinical Oncology 38, 5029-5029, 2020.
- Hahn, A.W., Alhalabi, O. et al.. Phase I clinical trials as a therapeutic option for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC). Journal of Clinical Oncology 38, 5073-5073, 2020.
- Alhalabi O, Chen J, Campbell MT, Slack Tidwell R, Han G, Wang W-L, et al.. Correlation of methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP) loss with response to anti-folate therapy in urothelial bladder carcinoma (UBC). Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2019;37(15_suppl):4521-, 2019.
- Alhalabi O, Campbell MT, Slack-Tidwell R, Siefker-Radtke AO, Shah AY, Efstathiou E, et al.. A phase II trial to evaluate pemetrexed clinical responses in relation to tumor methylthioadenosine phosphorylase (MTAP) gene status in patients with previously treated metastatic urothelial carcinoma. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2019;37(7_suppl):385-, 2019.
- Alhalabi O, Yadav S, Jaiyesimi IA.. Prescribing patterns of rasburicase and glucose-6-phosphate-dehydrogenase (G6PD) testing in a large community health system. Journal of Clinical Oncology. 2016;34(15_suppl):e18206-e, 2016.
Book Chapters
- Alhalabi O, Rafei H, Bilen MA, Shah AY. In: Current Landscape of Immunotherapy in Genitourinary Malignancies. Immunotherapy 3rd edition, 2020.
- Alhalabi O, Gao J. In: Medical treatment with targeted therapy. Urinary Bladder Pathology 1st edition, 2020.
- Albittar A, Alhalabi O, Glitza I. In: Immunotherapy in Melanoma. Immunotherapy 3rd edition, 2020.
Grant & Contract Support
| Title: | Investigation of combination therapy with pemetrexed, A2BR inhibitor, and anti-PD-L1 in MTAP deficient bladder cancer |
| Funding Source: | Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO/Bristol-Myers Squibb |
| Role: | Principal Investigator |