Memorial Hospital Research Laboratories

The Viviane Tabar Lab

Viviane Tabar, MD

Professor

I am a neurosurgeon-scientist and Chair of the Department of Neurosurgery. I have clinical expertise in the surgical management of brain tumors such as complex gliomas, meningiomas, and skull base tumors.

The lab is focused on two major themes: harnessing the potential of human pluripotent stem cells for brain repair and tumor modeling and studying glioma biology with a focus on tumor cell heterogeneity and the microenvironment.

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Research Projects

Featured News

Upcoming Clinical Trial Will Test New Cell Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease in Humans

Study will be the first clinical trial testing an investigational stem cell therapy aimed at restoring lost brain cells called neurons in people with advanced Parkinson’s disease (PD).

In the Lab

Fibrous extensions of a nerve cell (red) and an oligodendrocyte (green) growing on top of the nerve cell

Can Stem Cells Be Taught to Repair a Radiation-Damaged Brain?

In a recent study, Memorial Sloan Kettering scientists used stem-cell engineering to repair brain injuries in rats. The results raise hope for future therapies that could prevent or fix nerve damage in cancer patients who need brain radiation.

In the Lab

Investigators Use Stem Cells to Study Rare Pediatric Brain Tumors

Investigators have created the first-ever genetically engineered model of cancer made from human embryonic stem cells in culture.

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Publications Highlights

Berlin C, Lange K, Lekaye HC, Hopland K, Phillips S, Piao J, Tabar V. Long-term clinically relevant rodent model of methotrexate-induced cognitive impairment. Neuro Oncol. 2020 April 2; 22(8): 1126-1137PMCID: PMC7594568.

Dincer Z, Piao J, Niu L, Ganat Y, Kriks S, Zimmer B, Shi S, Tabar V, Studer Let al. Specification of functional cranial placode derivatives from human pluripotent stem cells. Cell Rep. 2013;5(5):1387-1402. PMCID: PMC3887225

Funato K, Major T, Lewis PW, Allis CD, Tabar V. Use of human embryonic stem cells to model pediatric gliomas with H3.3K27M histone mutation. Science. 2014 Dec 19;346(6216):1529-33. PMCID: PMC4995593

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People

Viviane Tabar, MD

Professor

Physician-scientist Viviane Tabar focuses on stem cells as tools for brain repair and for modeling brain cancer.
MD, American University of Beirut

212-639-3006: Office Phone
View physician profile: Physician profile

Members

Nidia Claros

Research Lab Manager

Shkurte Ademi Donohue
Research Technician

Elena Goldberg
Scientific Research Manager

Kenny Kwok Hei Yu

Instructor, Dept. of Neurosurgery

Lab Alumni

Petrina Georgala

Research Associate

Tamara Major

Research Associate

Peter Morgenstern

Research Fellow

Ryan C. Smith
Scientist, Dopamine Cell Biology, at BlueRock Therapeutics, New York, NY

Rong Wang, PhD — Rong Wang
Research Associate

Ran Xu

Research Fellow

Leif Droms

Research Technician

Nigel Durham

Research Technician

Vladimir P. Bermudez, PhD — Vladimir P. Bermudez
Scientific Research Manager

Gabriel Duran Rehbein, MD — Gabriel Duran Rehbein
Research Fellow

Lab Affiliations

Achievements

Open Positions

To learn more about available postdoctoral opportunities, please visit our Career Center

To learn more about compensation and benefits for postdoctoral researchers at MSK, please visit Resources for Postdocs

Career Opportunities

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Postdoctoral Fellow

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Get in Touch

212-639-3006

Office Phone
212-717-3231

Office Fax
212-639-8249

Lab Phone

Disclosures

Doctors and faculty members often work with pharmaceutical, device, biotechnology, and life sciences companies, and other organizations outside of MSK, to find safe and effective cancer treatments, to improve patient care, and to educate the health care community.

MSK requires doctors and faculty members to report (“disclose”) the relationships and financial interests they have with external entities. As a commitment to transparency with our community, we make that information available to the public.

Viviane Tabar discloses the following relationships and financial interests:

American University of Beirut
Fiduciary Role / Position

BlueRock Therapeutics
Professional Services and Activities

The information published here is a complement to other publicly reported data and is for a specific annual disclosure period. There may be differences between information on this and other public sites as a result of different reporting periods and/or the various ways relationships and financial interests are categorized by organizations that publish such data.

This page and data include information for a specific MSK annual disclosure period (January 1, 2023 through disclosure submission in spring 2024). This data reflects interests that may or may not still exist. This data is updated annually.

Learn more about MSK’s COI policies here. For questions regarding MSK’s COI-related policies and procedures, email MSK’s Compliance Office at [email protected].

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