Michelle Monje
Michelle Monje | |
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![]() Michelle Monje, discusses pediatric brain cancer treatments in a video for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in 2015 | |
Born | |
Alma mater | Vassar College Stanford University |
Known for | Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma |
Spouse | Karl Deisseroth |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | Stanford University |
Doctoral advisor | Philip A. Beachy |
Other academic advisors | Theo Palmer |
Michelle Leigh Monje-Deisseroth is a neuroscientist and neuro-oncologist. She is a professor of neurology at Stanford University and an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She develops new treatments for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma.
Early life and education
[edit]Monje wanted to be a physician from the age of five, when she was in kindergarten.[1] She grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and became interested in biology as a child.[2] Monje was a figure skater during her childhood and taught figure skating to children with developmental disabilities whilst in Junior High.[2] She was an undergraduate student at Vassar College.[2] Monje studied medicine at Stanford University and earned her MD–PhD in 2004.[3] She completed her internship at Stanford before leaving to join Harvard Medical School as a medical resident in neurology. Monje worked in the Brigham and Women's Hospital as well as the Massachusetts General Hospital. She completed a fellowship at the Stanford University School of Medicine, where she was mentored by Philip A. Beachy, and was board certified in neuro-oncology and neurological subspecialities in 2013.[2]
Research and career
[edit]Her research considers the molecular mechanisms for neurodevelopment and neuroplasticity.[4] She looks at how the neural circuits responsible for cognitive and motor functions are developed, and how the microenvironment of a tumour impacts the transition of precursor cells to diseased cells.[5] She studies brainstem tumours as a paradigm for paediatric gliogenesis.[6] Monje works at Stanford University, where she has developed new treatments for brain cancer since 2011.[7] She has extensively investigated Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG), a cancer for which it is difficult to identify effective chemotherapy and impossible to remove surgically, as the tumour grows in the brainstem.[8] In 2009 she grew the first laboratory cultures of DIPG from deceased donors, which allowed her and her team to monitor the cell's growth and test chemotherapy agents.[9] The tumour tissue resources developed in Monje's laboratory are shared with researchers all around the world.[8] She also uses mouse models to test possible therapies.
Monje is leading a Phase 1 clinical trial of panobinostat, a drug which slows the growth of DIPG and has been shown to increase survival rates in mice. She has also engineered immune cells including the chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cells to eradicate brain tumours.[10] This work involved screening DIPG tumour cultures for surface molecules that could be targets for CAR-T cells. Monje found that GD2 is present on the surface of 80% of DIPG tumours. Over expression of the sugar molecule is caused by the H3K27M mutation and drives the growth of tumour. Crystal Mackall developed CAR-T cells that attack the GD2, killing cultured DIPG cells which carry the H3K27M mutation.[10] Monje's engineered cells can cross the blood–brain barrier, and have been shown to greatly reduce the number of cancer cells in mice.[10]
She was board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in Neurology in 2018. She was recognised by State senator Jerry Hill with a Certificate of Recognition in June 2019.[8] The campaigning and research of Monje resulted in the United States renaming May 17 as Paediatric Brain Cancer Awareness Day.[8] Her research is supported by family members of children who have suffered from DIPG.[2][11] Monje serves on the advisory board of Abbie's Army, a non-profit that fights for a cure for DIPG.[12]
She is a recipient of the 2019 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.[13]
Awards and honors
[edit]- 2023 Richard Lounsbery Award[14]
- 2021 MacArthur Fellowship[15]
- 2021 Member, National Academy of Medicine[16]
- 2019 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers[17]
- 2017 Neuro-Oncology Investigator Award, American Academy of Neurology[18]
Selected publications
[edit]- Monje, Michelle (2003). "Inflammatory blockade restores adult hippocampal neurogenesis". Science. 302 (5651): 1760–1765. Bibcode:2003Sci...302.1760M. doi:10.1126/science.1088417. PMID 14615545. S2CID 36806485.
- Monje, Michelle (2002). "Irradiation induces neural precursor-cell dysfunction". Nature Medicine. 8 (9): 955–962. doi:10.1038/nm749. PMID 12161748. S2CID 10347561.
- Monje, Michelle (April 2003). "Radiation injury and neurogenesis". Current Opinion in Neurology. 16 (2): 129–134. doi:10.1097/00019052-200304000-00002. PMID 12644738.
- Monje M. (July 2018). "Myelin plasticity and nervous system function". Annu Rev Neurosci. 8 (41):61-76. Annu Rev Neurosci. doi: 10.1146/annurev-neuro-080317-061853.[19]
Personal life
[edit]Monje is married to neuroscientist Karl Deisseroth, with whom she has four children.
References
[edit]- ^ "Curing The Uncurable: Meet Dr. Michelle Monje, the researcher powering cures for deadly brain tumors". Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer. 2018-07-18. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ a b c d e Printz, Carrie (2019). "First person profile: Michelle Monje, MD, PhD". Cancer. 125 (9): 1397–1398. doi:10.1002/cncr.32132. ISSN 1097-0142. PMID 30990897.
- ^ "default - Stanford Children's Health". www.stanfordchildrens.org. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ "SFARI | Michelle Monje". SFARI. 2019-01-18. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ "2019 Keynote lecture: Michelle Monje | Canadian Association for Neuroscience". Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ "Monje". www.soc-neuro-onc.org. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ Michelle Monje: New therapies for brain cancer, 15 April 2019, retrieved 2019-08-01
- ^ a b c d "Moonshot4Kids" at Monje Lab: DIPG families advocate for increased pediatric cancer research funds". Healthier, Happy Lives Blog. 2019-06-07. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ "DIPG Research fundraiser". my.supportlpch.org. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ a b c "Altered immune cells clear childhood brain tumor in mice". News Center. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ "Mom's fundraising helps advance research into deadly brain tumor". News Center. 16 April 2018. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ "Advisory Board - Abbie's Army". www.abbiesarmy.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ "President Donald J. Trump Announces Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers". whitehouse.gov. 2019-07-02. Retrieved 2019-08-03 – via National Archives.
- ^ "Richard Lounsbery Award".
- ^ "2021 MacArthur Fellow".
- ^ "National Academy of Medicine Elects 100 New Members". Oct 18, 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-20.
- ^ News, Stanford. "Twelve from Stanford honored with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers | The Dish". news.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2020-05-27.
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has generic name (help) - ^ "American Academy of Neurology Announces 2017 Scientific Research Award Winners". www.aan.com. Retrieved 2020-06-11.
- ^ "Monje Lab Selected Publications". Monje Lab. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
- Living people
- American women neurologists
- American women neuroscientists
- American neuroscientists
- American neurologists
- People from the San Francisco Bay Area
- Vassar College alumni
- 1978 births
- 21st-century American women
- Recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
- Members of the National Academy of Medicine
- MacArthur Fellows