Michelle Monje
| This is the current revision of this page, as edited by Daniel Mietchen (talk | contribs) at 07:16, 3 August 2019 (relocating {{Scholia|author}} to "Selected publications" section). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version. |
Michelle Monje | |
|---|---|
| Born | |
| Alma mater | Vassar College Stanford University |
| Known for | Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma |
| Scientific career | |
| Institutions | Stanford University |
| Doctoral advisor | Philip A. Beachy |
| Other academic advisors | Theo Palmer |
Michelle Leigh Monje-Deisseroth is an Associate Professor of Neurology at Stanford University. She develops new treatments for Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma.
Contents
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] During her clinical training in neural development, Monje had four children.[1]
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]
Selected publications[edit]
 |
Scholia has an author profile for Michelle Monje. |
Monje, Michelle (2003). "Inflammatory blockade restores adult hippocampal neurogenesis". Science. 302: 1760–1765.
Monje, Michelle (2002). "Irradiation induces neural precursor-cell dysfunction". Nature Medicie. 8: 955–962.
Monje, Michelle (April 2003). "Radiation injury and neurogenesis". Current Opinion in Neurology. 16: 129–134.
Personal life[edit]
Monje is married to neuroscientist Karl Deisseroth, with whom she has four children.
References[edit]
- ^ a b "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.
- ^ "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, 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.
- ^ my.supportlpch.org https://my.supportlpch.org/fundraiser/401797. Retrieved 2019-08-01. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - ^ a b c "Altered immune cells clear childhood brain tumor in mice". News Center. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ "Mom's fundraising helps advance research into deadly brain tumor". News Center. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
- ^ "Advisory Board - Abbie's Army". www.abbiesarmy.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
