Dr. Halabelian has been an Affiliate Scientist at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre since 2025 and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Toronto since 2021. He is a structural and chemical biologist whose research focuses on accelerating small-molecule drug discovery for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. His work integrates atomic-level structural insights with cutting-edge hit-finding technologies, including DNA-encoded libraries coupled with machine learning (DEL-ML) and enantioselective affinity selection mass spectrometry (E-ASMS), to identify and optimize high-quality chemical probes and therapeutic candidates.

Dr. Halabelian’s research has provided foundational structural and mechanistic insights into diverse human proteins, including DNA repair factors, RNA-modifying enzymes, and epigenetic regulators. His contributions have advanced our understanding of the molecular underpinnings of genome maintenance, RNA biology, and chromatin regulation, and have enabled the development of widely used small-molecule tools for probing protein function.

A major focus of Dr. Halabelian’s current research program is the discovery of small-molecule ligands targeting WD40 repeat (WDR) domain proteins for therapeutic intervention. His group is actively developing chemical probes and molecular recruiters for several disease-relevant WDR domains, including LRRK2 (implicated in Parkinson’s disease), DDB1 and DCAF1 (key components of E3 ubiquitin ligase complexes), and FBXW7 (an E3 ligase substrate receptor and frequently mutated tumor suppressor). By integrating structural biology, machine learning, and high-throughput hit discovery platforms, his team aims to unlock the therapeutic potential of this understudied yet highly druggable protein family.

Dr. Halabelian’s research focuses on discovering pharmacological modulators of protein–protein interaction networks, with a particular emphasis on WD40 repeat (WDR) domain proteins as therapeutic targets. Current projects include targeting LRRK2 WDR, DDB1, DCAF1, FBXW7, and WDR91 for small‐molecule ligand and recruiter development. He is broadly interested in integrating structural biology, chemical biology, and AI-driven ligand discovery to enable new therapeutic strategies, including targeted protein degradation, modulation of E3 ligase complexes, and design of next-generation chemical probes.

For a list of Dr. Halabelian's publications, please visit PubMed or ORCID.