About

Mirvat El-Sibai

Professor of Biology

Mirvat El-Sibai received her BSc. in Biology from the American University of Beirut (AUB), Lebanon, in 1999. From 1999-2001 she worked in the physiology department at the school of Medicine at AUB. In 2002 she then joined the group of Dr. Ying Huang at the Upstate Medical College in Syracuse, USA, where she worked in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology on the role of the PI3K pathway in cancer. From 2002-2006, she did her PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology and analytical microscopy at Albert Einstein college of Medicine in New York.

She did her thesis project in the laboratories of Dr. Jonathan Backer and in collaboration with Dr. John Condeelis and Dr. Klaus Hahn. In her PhD thesis, she examined signaling pathways responsible for breast cancer cell metastasis. 

Classes Taught

In 2009, she joined the Natural Science department at LAU in Beirut. She now teaches graduate Advanced Molecular Biology and Signaling in Cancer courses and well as Cell and Molecular Biology.

Research Interests

Dr. El-Sibai’s research interest is signaling pathways responsible for cancer cell metastasis, with a focus on RhoGTPases. 

SDGs Research Mapping

Dr. Mirvat El-Sibai conducts research relevant to the following SDGs:

Awards

In 2017, Dr. El-Sibai was the recipient of the prestigious Shoman award for her research on cancer.

Selected Articles

  1. StarD13: a potential star target for tumor therapeutics. Jaafar L, Chamseddine Z, El-Sibai M. Hum Cell. 2020 Apr 9. doi: 10.1007/s13577-020-00358-2. Online ahead of print.
  2. Human Recombinant Arginase I [HuArgI (Co)-PEG5000]-Induced Arginine Depletion Inhibits Colorectal Cancer Cell Migration and Invasion. Al-Koussa H, Al-Haddad M, Abi-Habib R, El-Sibai M. Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Nov 29;20(23):6018. doi: 10.3390/ijms20236018.
  3. RHOG Activates RAC1 through CDC42 Leading to Tube Formation in Vascular Endothelial Cells. El Atat O, Fakih A, El-Sibai M. Cells. 2019 Feb 18;8(2). pii: E171. doi: 10.3390/cells8020171.
  4. Hypoxia and EGF Stimulation Regulate VEGF Expression in Human Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) Cells by Differential Regulation of the PI3K/Rho-GTPase and MAPK Pathways. Nicolas S, Abdellatef S, Haddad MA, Fakhoury I, El-Sibai M. Cells. 2019 Nov 6;8(11):1397. doi: 10.3390/cells8111397.
  5. Daaboul HE, Daher CF, Bodman-Smith K, Taleb RI, Shebaby WN, Boulos J, Dagher C, Mroueh MA, El-Sibai M. Antitumor activity of β-2-himachalen-6-ol in colon cancer is mediated through its inhibition of the PI3K and MAPK pathways. Chem Biol Interact. 2017 Sep 25;275:162-170. doi: 10.1016/j.cbi.2017.08.003. Epub 2017 Aug 3.
  6. Saleh Al-Dimassi, Gilbert Salloum, Bechara Saykali, Oula Khoury, Ralph Abi-Habib and Mirvat El-Sibai.. Targeting the MAP Kinase pathway in astrocytoma cells using a recombinant Anthrax Lethal Toxin as a way to inhibit cell motility and invasion. Int J Oncol. 2016 May;48(5):1913-20. doi: 10.3892/ijo.2016.3431. Epub 2016 Mar 9.
  7. Hanna S., Khalil B.D., Saykali B., Nasrallah A., Sobh R., Nasser S. and El-Sibai M. StarD13 is a Tumor Suppressor in Breast Cancer Needed for Cell Motility and Invasion. Int J Oncol. 2014 May;44(5):1499-511.
  8. Khalil B.D., Hanna S., Saykali, B.A., El-Sitt S., Nasrallah A., Marston D., El-Sabban M., Hahn K.M., Symons M., and El-Sibai M. The regulation of RhoA in focal adhesions by StarD13 is essential for astrocytoma cell motility. Exp Cell Res. 2013 Dec 10
  9. Nasrallah A., Saykali B., Al-Dimassi S., Khoury N., Hanna S. and El-Sibai M. The Effect of StarD13 on Colorectal Cancer Proliferation and Invasion. Oncol Rep. 2013 Nov 20.
  10. El-Sitt S., Khalil B.D., Hanna S., El-Sabban M., Fakhreddine N., and El-Sibai M. DLC2/StarD13 plays a role of a tumor suppressor in astrocytoma. Oncol Rep. 2012 Aug;28(2):511-8.

Academic Degrees

  • PhD in Cell Biology and Molecular Pharmacology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY, USA
  • MS in Physiology, American University of Beirut, Lebanon
  • BS in Biology, American University of Beirut, Lebanon