Dima A. Sabbah, B. Pharm., M.S., Ph.D.

 

986025 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska, 68198-6028

 

University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Tel: 402-408-2837(home)

 

Email: dima_sabbah@yahoo.com

 

Employment Status

 

F1-OPT (29 months) eligible for an additional 17 months.

 

Professional Experience

 

 

I  look  for  a  research  and  development  position  in  the  pharmaceutical  industry  that  takes  the

 

advantages of extensive experience in computational chemistry and drug design.

 

 

Graduate Research Assistant, Aug 2007- June 2012, University of Nebraska Medical

 

Center

 

·         Homology modeling of phosphoinositide -3- kinases (PI3Ks) using MOE

 

·         Pharmacophore Generation for PI3Kα selective inhibitors using MOE

 

·         Pharmacophore Search against the National Cancer Institute database using MOE

 

·         Molecular Dynamic simulations for the kinase domains of PI3Ks using the AMBER 10 package

 

·         Calculating the binding free energies of prospective inhibitors using the MM/GBSA (molecular mechanics/ generalized born surface area) method in AMBER10

 

·         Recruiting the computational alanine- scanning approach to calculate the relative change in free energy of binding (ΔΔ G bind) for the alanine mutants of binding residues in the protein using MM/GBSA in AMBER10

 

·         Docking studies for PI3K inhibitors using Glide dock in MAESTRO

 

·         Design and Synthesis of novel PI3Kα inhibitors

 

·         Molecular Dynamic simulations for 16 models of β-secretase protein using the AMBER 10 package

 

 

Lecturer, 2004 - 2007, College of Pharmacy, AL-Zaytoonah Private University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan

 

 

· General Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Organic Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Analytical Chemistry, Pharmaceutical Medicinal Chemistry II, Pharmaceutical Medicinal Chemistry I lab, Pharmaceutical Analytical Chemistry Lab, Phytochemistry Lab, Pharmaceutics I Lab, Pharmaceutical Physical Lab I, Microbiology, Microbiology Lab, Parasitology Lab, Pharmaceutical Microbiology Lab.

 

Teaching Assistant, 1996 – 2004, College of Pharmacy, AL-Zaytoonah Private University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan

 

 

·         Pharmacognosy Lab, Phytochemistry Lab, Pharmaceutical Organic Chemistry Lab, Pharmaceutical Analytical Chemistry Lab, Pharmaceutical Medicinal Chemistry Lab, Pharmaceutical Microbiology Lab, Pharmaceutical Biochemistry Lab.

 

Technical Skills

 

·         Molecular Modeling Software (MOE, MAESTRO , PYMOL and AMBER)

 

·         Computer Skills in MS Word, MS Excel, Power Point, and basic Internet Skills

 

·         Chemical : Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy, Gas Chromatography Mass Spectroscopy

 

Peer Reviewed Abstracts (10 Published Abstracts)

 

 

1.    The 44^th annual PGSRM, June 7^th-9^th, 2012, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska. Poster Presentation: Structure-based drug design, synthesis, and

 

biological evaluation of a novel scaffold for PI3kα inhibitors.

 

2.    The Nebraska Academy of Sciences, April 20^th, 2012, Lincoln, Nebraska. Oral Presentation: Synthesis, biological evaluation, and molecular docking studies of novel

 

phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3kα) inhibitors

 

3.    ACS Denver National Meeting, August 28^th- September 1^st, 2011. Poster Presentation: Investigation of phosphoinositide 3-kinases binding pocket using mm-pbsa

 

4.    TeraGrid '11, July 18^th-21^st, 2011, Salt Lake City, Utah. Poster Presentation: Modeling of PI3K using Molecular Dynamic Simulations on UNL Cluster

 

5.    The Nebraska Academy of Sciences, April 15^th, 2011, Lincoln, Nebraska. Oral Presentation: Determination of β-secretase binding site charge employing MD simulation and molecular docking

 

6.    ACS Anaheim National Meeting, March 27^th-30^th, 2011. Poster Presentation: Discovery of Novel Inhibitors of Phosphoinositide-3-Kinases

 

7.    The 45th Midwest Regional Meeting of the ACS, October 27^th-30^th, 2010.Poster Presentation: Pharmacophore Model, Database Search, Docking Study and Biological Assays for Novel PI3Kα Inhibitors

 

8.    AAPS Graduate Student Symposium in Drug Design and Discovery, November 8^th-12^th, 2009. Oral and Poster Presentations: Selectivity Studies of PI3K Inhibitors by Molecular Docking. This work is honored by the AAPS. “Graduate Student Symposium Award in Drug Design & Discovery”

 

9.    The Nebraska Academy of Sciences, April 17^th, 2009, Lincoln, Nebraska. Oral Presentation: Homology Modeling and Docking Studies of PI3Kα/γ

 

10.  The  43  ^rd   ACS  Midwest  Regional  Meeting,  October  8^th-11^th,  2008.  Oral  Presentation: Computational Studies and Inhibitors Design of PI3Kα

 

 

Invited Speaker

 

 

 

1.      Chemistry Department, University of Nebraska at Omaha, November 8, 2010. Oral Presentation: Discovery of Novel Inhibitors of Phosphoinositide 3-Kinases

 

2.      Chemistry Department, University of Nebraska at Omaha, October 5, 2009. Oral Presentation: Selectivity Studies of PI3K Inhibitors by Molecular Docking

 

Peer    Reviewed    Scientific    Articles    (6    Submitted/Accepted/Published    Peer    Reviewed Articles)

 

1.    Sabbah   D.A.,   Vennerstrom   J.L.,   Zhong   H.   Binding   Selectivity   Studies   of

 

Phosphoinositide  3-Kinases  Using  MM-GBSA.  J.  Chem.  Inf.  Model.  2012,  52,

 

3213−3224.

 

2.      Sabbah D.A., Simms N.A., Dong, Y., Ezell, E.L., Brattain M.G., Vennerstrom J.L., Zhong H. N-phenyl-4-hydroxy-2-quinolone-3-carboxamides as selective inhibitors of mutant H1047R phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3Kα). Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2012, 20, 7175–7183.

 

3.      Sabbah D.A., Simms N.A., Brattain M.G., Vennerstrom J.L., Zhong H. Biological evaluation and docking studies of recently identified inhibitors of phosphoinositide-3-kinases. J. Bioorg. Med. Chem.2012, 22, 876-880.

 

4.      Sabbah D.A., Brattain M.G., Zhong H. Dual Inhibitors of PI3K/mTOR or MTOR-Selective Inhibitors: Which way Shall We Go? J. Current Medicinal Chemistry 2011, 18, 5528-5544.

 

5.      Sabbah D.A., Vennerstrom J.L., Zhong H. Docking Studies on Isoform-Specific Inhibition of Phosphoinositide-3-Kinases. J. Chem. Inf. Model. 2010, 50, 1887-1898.

 

6.      Sabbah D.A., Vennerstrom J.L., Zhong H. Modeling the Protonation States of β-secretase Binding pocket. (to be submitted)

 

 

Invited Peer Reviewed Book Chapters (1 in revision)

 

1. Chapter in a book: Drug Design and Discovery Targeting Phosphatidylinositol-3-kinases. The book name is: Practical Applications in Structure-Based Drug Design book. (In revision).

 

Awards

 

·         2012   ADDF Young Investigator Scholarship

 

·         2011 COMP’s Denver National Meeting Brochure Cover Image Contest

 

·         2011 Open Science Grid Summer School and TeraGrid '11 Conference Attendance

 

·         2009 AAPS Graduate Student Symposium Award in Drug Design & Discovery

 

 

GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIPS & FELLOWSHIPS

 

 

·         2010-2012: Bukey Fellowship

 

·         2007-2012: Graduate Studies Research Assistantship

 

 

AFFLIATIONS

 

 

·         American Chemical Society

 

·         American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists

 

·         US National Association of Professional Women

 

·         Jordan Pharmaceutical Association

 

 

REFERENCES

 

 

 

·         Professor Jonathan Vennerstrom, University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of pharmacy, office phone number: 402 559 5362, email:  jvenners@unmc.edu, address: 986025 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-6025, USA

 

·         Professor Edward Roche, University of Nebraska Medical Center, College of pharmacy, office phone number: 402 559 4645, email:  eroche@unmc.edu, address: 986025 Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 68198-6025, USA

 

 

• · Professor Haizhen Zhong, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Chemistry Department, office phone number: 402 554 3145, email:  hzhong@unomaha.edu, address: 6001 Dodge Street, Omaha, NE 68182, USA