Biographical Info

Specialty: Vascular and Interventional Radiology

Board Certificate: The American Board of Radiology, with Certificate of Added Qualification in Vascular and Interventional Radiology

Residency: University of Illinois at Chicago

Fellowship: Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL

Languages: English

Clinical and Academic Interests

• Portal hypertension: transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunts (TIPS), variceal embolization, balloon occluded retrograde transvenous obliteration (BRTO), transjugular liver biopsy
• Interventional oncology: transarterial chemoembolization, yttrium-90 radioembolization, image-guided drug delivery, percutaneous ablation (liver, kidney, lung, bone), percutaneous biopsy (liver, kidney, lung, bone)
• Palliative interventions: celiac plexus and other nerve blocks, central venous stenting, percutaneous gastrostomy tubes, biliary stenting

Publications

Pubmed: Gaba, RC
Gaba Research Lab: The long-term objective of our translational research lab is to improve the prognosis of patients with liver malignancies through the use of image-guided, minimally invasive locoregional therapies in Interventional Radiology (IR). Lab research interests span large animal models (the Oncopig Cancer Model) of liver disease and liver cancer (hepatocellular carcinoma, HCC), Interventional Oncology and innovative drug delivery approaches, and genomics. Current projects span in vitro and in vivo (mouse and pig) alcoholic liver cirrhosis and HCC development and characterization; preclinical (in vitro) screening and testing of novel chemotherapy agents as well as device based therapeutics; human cirrhotic liver and HCC genetic, transcriptomic, and epigenetic sequencing; in vivo (rabbit) quantification of cytotoxic/cytostatic drug delivery using innovative agents; and investigation of driver mutations in liver cancer through genome editing.

The lab has a solid track record for extramural funding (currently supported by the United States National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and medical industry), academic productivity (with more than 160 peer-reviewed literature publications), and mentorship (ten mentored research fellows including 6 mentored MS students). Our group works in an approximately 2500 square foot, recently renovated and fully equipped space in the Incubator Laboratory Facility. Current lab members include a post-doctoral research associate, two MS students, several research associates, and numerous undergraduate students. For more information, see our team website: https://comparativegenomics.illinois.edu/