Joel Gabre, MD, Receives Scholar Award to Advance Esophageal Cancer Research

Joel Gabre, MD, has received a 2022 Research Scholar Award from the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Research Foundation. AGA is the premier GI professional society with more than 16,000 members globally, involved in all aspects of the science, practice and advancement of gastroenterology. This award supports early-career faculty working toward a career in digestive disease research.

Dr. Gabre, who is an instructor of medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, specializes in the study of esophageal cancer and Barrett’s esophagus, a pre-cancerous lesion in the esophagus. He is a member of a multidisciplinary team at Columbia aimed at early detection and prevention strategies in a number of gastrointestinal cancers, including colorectal and pancreatic.

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is the most common type of esophageal cancer in the United States and a devastating disease that leads to nearly 20,000 deaths annually. This AGA award will support Dr. Gabre’s project focused on improving response to chemotherapy and radiation, which remains the basis for treatment for most patients with EAC. Dr. Gabre and collaborators will use patient-derived 3D esophageal adenocarcinoma organoids to model treatment response and drug resistance. Patient-derived organoids are an efficient model system that can mimic tumor biology and likelihood of how well a patient could respond to a specific treatment. The goal of this research is to identify novel treatments for patients suffering with EAC.

The AGA Research Scholar awards provide $100,000 annually in grant funding to recipients for three years. The annual award supports junior faculty who have demonstrated exceptional promise in digestive disease research.