Professor Gabriel Nussbaum, MD, PhD

Institute of Biomedical and Oral Research at the Hebrew University-Hadassah Faculty of Dental Medicine

Who is Professor Gabriel Nussbaum?

Prof. Gabriel Nussbaum is studying how bacteria in the mouth are linked to pancreatic cancer. He’s an Israeli and native New Yorker who began his research career as an MD, PhD student at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. After residency, Prof. Nussbaum moved to Israel where he did postdoctoral work at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He has five grown children, with two of them currently serving in the Israel Defense Forces. In his free time away from the lab, he enjoys keeping active and spending as much time as possible with his family.

Research Overview

Prof. Nussbaum has been studying a type of oral bacteria called Porphyromonas gingivalis (PG) and how it impacts pancreatic cancer. In one set of experiments, PG was administered to the oral cavity of mice that carry a gene mutation common in pancreatic cancer. PG accelerated pancreatic cancer development in these mice, underscoring the link between this bacterium and the risk for pancreatic cancer to develop. People with periodontal disease have increased amounts of oral bacteria such as PG and studies have shown that periodontal disease increases the risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Prof. Nussbaum’s work is helping us understand the mechanisms underlying this connection, in order to better identify, prevent, and treat this deadly disease.  

Prof. Nussbaum also focuses on head and neck cancers as he works with an active oral surgery department. His first ICRF grant in 2015 focused on bacteria in oral tumors and how they contribute to tumor progression.

What’s Trending

Prof. Nussbaum is one of several scientists investigating the link between bacteria and cancer, which has been studied more in recent years in various types of cancer. “Bacteria associated with periodontal disease love inflammation and feed off it – and people began discovering that inflammation can cause cancer,” Prof. Nussbaum says. In addition to the mouth, scientists are studying bacteria in the gut and how it influences inflammation and immune responses. Understanding these relationships is crucial for developing new strategies for cancer prevention and treatment, including targeted therapies.

Reflections

Prof. Nussbaum has a personal connection as he lost his father to pancreatic cancer and often relates it to his work. His father, after surviving two other types of cancer, including lung, passed away six months after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis at 79, despite surgery. When Prof. Nussbaum was caring for him, he discovered he had a partial denture and periodontal disease. He often considers his father’s combination of oncogenes and oral bacteria, which may have led to his pancreatic cancer as referenced in Prof. Nussbaum’s work. His father, of blessed memory, was a head and neck surgeon at Beth Israel Hospital in New York.

Why Israel

According to Prof. Nussbaum, “Israel is less fettered by convention. There’s a more dynamic element to it – it’s a vibrant and innovative ecosystem.” His lab also represents the diversity of Israel. “I have a Druze student, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian students. People ask me if it’s tense and the answer is surprisingly no. It’s hard to explain because of the way people think of Israel from the outside is so different from what Israel really is.” He also has two international students, one from Japan and one from Nigeria who decided to remain in Israel after October 7th despite being given the option to go home for a period.