Gabriel Balmus

Prof Gabriel Balmus

Group Leader

Identifying genetic and environmental factors involved in DNA damage, neurodegeneration and ageing in neurons

Condition

Huntington's disease, Motor neuron disease/ALS, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease

Biography

Interested in the mechanisms controlling the maintenance of nuclear and mitochondrial genomes in mature neurons, Prof Gabriel Balmus joined the UK DRI at Cambridge in 2018. Obtaining his PhD in Molecular and Integrative Physiology in 2013 at Cornell University, USA, he went on to complete postdoctoral training at the Gurdon Institute at University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. As Group Leader, Gabriel brings his wealth of expertise to research genomic instability in neurodegenerative diseases.

News

Key publications

Nature genetics
Published
The synthetic lethal interaction between CDS1 and CDS2 is a vulnerability in uveal melanoma and across multiple tumor types
Authors
Pui Ying Chan, Diana Alexander, Ishan Mehta, Larissa Satiko Alcantara Sekimoto Matsuyama, Victoria Harle, Rebeca Olvera-León, Jun Sung Park, Fernanda G Arriaga-González, Louise van der Weyden, Saamin Cheema, Vivek Iyer, Victoria Offord, David Barneda, Phillip T Hawkins, Len Stephens, Zuza Kozik, Michael Woods, Kim Wong, Gabriel Balmus, Alessandro Vinceti, Nicola A Thompson, Martin Del Castillo Velasco-Herrera, Lodewyk Wessels, Joris van de Haar, Emanuel Gonçalves, Sanju Sinha, Martha Estefania Vázquez-Cruz, Luisa Bisceglia, Francesco Raimondi, Jyoti Choudhary, Sumeet Patiyal, Anjan Venkatesh, Francesco Iorio, Colm J Ryan, David J Adams
The synthetic lethal interaction between CDS1 and CDS2 is a vulnerability in uveal melanoma and across multiple tumor types
Cancer cell
Published
Gene context drift identifies drug targets to mitigate cancer treatment resistance
Authors
Amir Jassim, Birgit V Nimmervoll, Sabrina Terranova, Erica Nathan, Linda Hu, Jessica T Taylor, Katherine E Masih, Lisa Ruff, Matilde Duarte, Elizabeth Cooper, Gunjan Katyal, Melika Akhbari, Reuben J Gilbertson, Jennifer C Coleman, Joseph S Toker, Colton Terhune, Gabriel Balmus, Stephen P Jackson, Hailong Liu, Tao Jiang, Michael D Taylor, Kui Hua, Jean E Abraham, Mariella G Filbin, Anthony Hill, Anarita Patrizi, Neil Dani, Aviv Regev, Maria K Lehtinen, Richard J Gilbertson
Gene context drift identifies drug targets to mitigate cancer treatment resistance
Science translational medicine
Published
Antisense oligonucleotide-mediated MSH3 suppression reduces somatic CAG repeat expansion in Huntington's disease iPSC-derived striatal neurons
Authors
Emma L Bunting, Jasmine Donaldson, Sarah A Cumming, Jessica Olive, Elizabeth Broom, Mihai Miclăuș, Joseph Hamilton, Matthew Tegtmeyer, Hien T Zhao, Jonathan Brenton, Won-Seok Lee, Robert E Handsaker, Susan Li, Brittany Ford, Mina Ryten, Steven A McCarroll, Holly B Kordasiewicz, Darren G Monckton, Gabriel Balmus, Michael Flower, Sarah J Tabrizi
Antisense oligonucleotide-mediated MSH3 suppression reduces somatic CAG repeat expansion in Huntington's disease iPSC-derived striatal neurons

Balmus Lab

Explore the work of the Balmus lab, aiming to identify neuroprotective mechanisms against genomic instability accrual in ageing and neurodegeneration. 

Balmus lab
Image of a brain organoid