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Dr Michaela Waibel

Research Unit

Islet biology

Information

Research Project Manager

Professional Experience

2014-present             Research Project Manager, St Vincent’s Institute,
                                  Melbourne, Australia
2017                          ‘The Bridge Program’, Queensland University of
                                  Technology. Training program in pharmaceutical
                                  research commercialization and clinical translation
2015-2016                 Swinburne University of Technology, Diploma of
                                  Project Management
2009-2014                Post-Doctoral Fellow, PeterMac Callum Cancer Centre,
                                  Melbourne, Australia
2007-2008                Post-Doctoral Fellow, University Clinics Tuebingen,
                                  Germany
2003-2007                PhD student, University Clinics Tuebingen, Germany

Achievements

2018                 Susan Alberti Medical Research Foundation – Women in
                         Research Award 2018
2016                 PITA conference Melbourne – NHMRC Program Grant 
                         Travel Award
2016                 NHMRC Program Grant Seed Funding 
                         ‘Oxygen-carrier nanoparticles to prevent hypoxic damage
                         and loss of beta-cells during islet isolation’
2015 - 2017      Cancer Council Victoria (CCV) Grant-in-Aid -
                         ‘Rational combination therapies for JAK-driven haematological
                          malignancies’
2013                 The CASS Foundation Travel Fellowship
2011-2013        NHMRC Project Grant: ‘Discovering novel therapeutic targets for
                         haematological  malignancies expressing oncogenic JAK2
                         mutants’
2009 - 2011      Post-doctoral Fellowship, German Research Foundation

Research Interests

Type 1 diabetes and islet transplantation
My main research interest is in islet transplantation and the use of small molecule inhibitors to improve islet transplant outcomes. I am part of the management team for the Tom Mandel Islet Transplant Program at SVI, and in this role help to facilitate collaboration projects with various partners in academia and industry.
Research translation and clinical research
In my role as project manager for the Immunology & Diabetes Unit I am responsible for clinical research projects and clinical trials including project planning, implementation, management and close-out. I have experience with various project areas including proposals, ethics, budget, data management and compliance.

Selected Publications

  1. Yang CH, Mangiafico SP, Waibel M, Loudovaris T, Loh K, Thomas HE, Morahan G, Andrikopoulos S. E2f8 and Dlg2 genes have independent effects on impaired insulin secretion associated with hyperglycaemia. Diabetologia. 2020 Apr 30. [Epub ahead of print]
  2. A Burzava; A Forget; F Harding; M Cockshell; D Penko; C Rouzaud; D Rojas-Canales; C Bonder; T Coates; M Waibel; H Thomas; T Kay; T Loudovaris; A Blencowe; N Voelcker. Replica moulded poly(dimethylsiloxane) microwell arrays induce endothelial cell adhesion for co-culture with pancreatic islets. Biointerphases. 2019 Jan 30;14(1):011002.
  3. SK Kim, DA Knight, LR Jones, S Vervoort, AP Ng, R Ralli, JF Seymour, JE Bradner, M Waibel, L Kats and RW Johnstone. JAK2 is dispensable for maintenance of JAK2-mutant B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemias. Genes&Development, 2018 Jun 1;32(11-12):849-864
  4. D. M. Rojas-Canales*, M. Waibel*, A. Forget*, D. Penko, J. Nitschke, F. J. Harding, B. Delalat, A. Blencowe, T. Loudovaris, S. T. Grey, H. E. Thomas, T. W. H. Kay, C. Drogemuller, Nicolas H. Voelcker and Patrick T. Coates. Oxygen-permeable microwell device maintains islet mass and integrity during shipping. Endocrine Connections, 2018 Mar;7(3):490-503
  5. M. Waibel, S.J. Vervoort, I.Y. Kong, S. Heinzel, K.M. Ramsbottom, B.P. Martin, E.D. Hawkins and R.W. Johnstone. Epigenetic targeting of Notch1 driven transcription using the HDACi panobinostat is a potential therapy against T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Leukaemia. 2018 Jan;32(1):237-241.
  6. K. Loh, Y-C. Shi, S. Walters, M. Bensellam, K. Lee, K. Dezaki, M. Nakata, C. Kin, J.Y. Chan, E.N.Gurzov, H.E. Thomas, M. Waibel, J. Cantley, T.W. Kay, T. Yada, R.D. Laybutt, S. Grey and H. Herzog. Inhibition of Y1 receptor signalling improves islet transplant outcome. Nature Communications. 2017 Sep 8;8(1):490.
  7. Chhasatia R, Sweetman MJ, Harding FJ, Waibel M, Kay T, Thomas H, Loudovaris T, Voelcker NH. Non-invasive, in vitro analysis of islet insulin production enabled by an optical porous silicon biosensor. Biosens Bioelectron. 2017 Jan 4;91:515-522. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2017.01.004. [Epub ahead of print]
  8. A. Forget, M. Waibel, D. M. Rojas-Canales, S. Chen, N. Kawazoe, F. J. Harding, T. Loudovaris, P. T. H. Coates, A. Blencowe, G. Chen and   N. H. Voelcker. IGF-2 Coated Porous Collagen Microwells for the Culture of Pancreatic Islets. J. Mater. Chem. B, 2017, Advance Article, First published online 20 Dec 2016. doi: 10.1039/C6TB02748B
  9. Hawkins ED, Duarte D, Akinduro O, Khorshed RA, Passaro D, Nowicka M, Straszkowski L, Scott MK, Rothery S, Ruivo N, Foster K, Waibel M, Johnstone RW, Harrison SJ, Westerman DA, Quach H, Gribben J, Robinson MD, Purton LE, Bonnet D, Lo Celso C. T cell acute leukaemia exhibits dynamic interactions with bone marrow microenvironments. Nature, 2016 Oct 17. doi: 10.1038/nature19801.
  10. Bahman Delalat, Darling M. Rojas-Canales, Soraya Rasi Ghaemi, Michaela Waibel, Frances J. Harding, Daniella Penko, Christopher J. Drogemuller, Thomas Loudovaris, Patrick T. H. Coates and Nicolas H. Voelcker. A Combinatorial Protein Microarray for Probing Materials Interaction with Pancreatic Islet Cell Populations. Microarrays 2016, 5, 21; doi: 10.3390/ microarrays5030021
  11. Waibel M, Christiansen AJ, Hibbs ML, Shortt J, Jones SA, Simpson I, Light A, O’Donnell K, Morand EF, Tarlinton DM, Johnstone RW, and Hawkins ED. Manipulation of B cell responses with histone deacetylase inhibitors. Nature Communications, 2015 Apr 27; 6:6838. 6 citations
  12. Waibel M, Gregory G, Shortt J, Johnstone RW. Rational combination therapies targeting survival signaling in aggressive B cell leukemia / lymphoma. Current Opinion in Hematology, 2014 Jul;21(4):297-308. 1 citation
  13. Waibel M, Solomon VS, Knight DA, Ralli RA, Kim SK, Banks KM, Vidacs E, Virely C, Sia KC, Bracken LS, Collins-Underwood R, Drenberg C, Ramsey LB, Meyer SC, Takiguchi M, Dickins RA, Levine R, Ghysdael J, Dawson MA, Lock RB, Mullighan CG, Johnstone RW. Combined targeting of JAK2 and Bcl-2/Bcl-xL to cure mutant JAK2-driven malignancies and overcome acquired resistance to JAK2 inhibitors. Cell Reports, 2013 Nov 27;5(4):1047-59. 17 citations