Research Interests
Feilim Mac Gabhann is an associate professor of biomedical engineering at Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering with a joint appointment in the School of Medicine. He is an expert in systems pharmacology – building computational models to simulate different therapies like biologic drugs, cell transplant and gene therapy – and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a signal protein released by cells that encourages the formation of blood vessels.
Applications of Mac Gabhann’s research could improve therapies in a broad range of disease areas, including vascular diseases, cancer, HIV, and gynecological disorders. Using computational models of the transport and signaling of VEGF, he tests therapies to inhibit or block the signaling pathways that lead to vascularization of tumors and metastasis in cancer. He also tests therapies to promote or increase signaling that leads to increased perfusion of muscle and other tissues vulnerable to ischemia, or lack of blood.
Projects underway at Mac Gabhann’s Lab include studies on the design and development of antibody-drug conjugates to improve cancer therapies, and molecular-level simulations of HIV to help test new therapies that boost host antiviral responses. His research is supported by the National Institutes of Health.
Mac Gabhann is a core faculty member of the Institute for Computational Medicine. He received the 2016 William H. Huggins Excellence in Teaching Award, and in 2015 he was awarded a JHU Catalyst Award for his research on virtual pre-clinical and clinical trials in HIV. Other awards include the American Physiological Society Arthur C. Guyton Award for Excellence in Integrative Physiology (2012), the Microcirculatory Society August Krogh Young Investigator Award (2010), and the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (2008). In 2012 he received a Sloan Research Fellowship for his work on understanding how cells interpret their environment. Before joining JHU in 2009, he worked as a strategy consultant in Dublin and London. His work has appeared in more than 70 journal publications.
Mac Gabhann earned a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from University College Dublin in 1997 and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Johns Hopkins in 2006. From 2006 to 2009 he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Virginia.
Titles
- Associate Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Affiliated Centers & Institutes
Education
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Virginia, 2006-2009
- PhD, Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, 2006
- BE, Chemical Engineering, University College Dublin, 1997
Recent Highlights
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May 23, 2019Feilim Mac Gabhann, associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Institute for Computational Medicine, was nominated for a Career Champion Award by current Homewood students.
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October 13, 2015The emerging field of computational medicine gives researchers a versatile and robust platform for testing the effectiveness of new cancer drug therapies, and the ability to efficiently investigate a wide range of drug interactions.
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June 29, 2015Four of these promising researchers are assistant professors within the Department of Biomedical Engineering including Warren Grayson, Jordan Green, Feilim Mac Gabhann, and Sridevi Sarma.