Rice University
United States

Biography

Cobi J. Heijnen is currently a professor of Neuroimmunology and Chair of the Department of Symptom Research at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA. Before that, she served as Chair of the Department of Psychoneuroimmunology at the University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, Netherlands, for more than 15 years. She has been trained as a basic immunologist working specifically on the identification of various T cell subsets in the regulation of the human primary antibody response. She discovered the human T regulatory subset in the CD4+ subpopulation which she called at the time the T suppressor-inducer cell and which was published in Nature. After her Ph.D. she has concentrated herself on developing the field of Psychoneuroimmunology in Europe and became the first chair in Psychoneuroimmunology in Europe. She started her PNI work investigating the neuro-immune influence of stressors on the immune system. Subsequently they adapted their work on pathological states like autoimmunity including patients with arthritis, sarcoidosis, multiple sclerosis, as well as chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. In essence She became intrigued with the notion that during pathology the sensitivity of (neuroendocrine) receptors in the immune cells changes, leading to a pro-inflammatory state of the immune system and its effect on behavior of the patient. As a read out of the bi-directional communication between the immune system and the brain, they also studied the production of neuropeptides like endorphins by the immune system itself. Later on, she focused her work on two areas: the prevention and repair of neonatal brain damage, and biological mechanisms governing the transition from acute to chronic pain. Through those studies she has expanded her knowledge on the influence of immune cells (T cells and macrophages) on the regulation of nervous system function during disease as well as on the mechanisms of neuronal repair. She explored fundamental intracellular mechanisms of stress, pain and fatigue to ultimately define efficacious therapeutic targets. For example, they identified intracellular kinases that govern transition from acute to chronic pain. GRK2 appeared to be a crucial kinase in the transition from acute to chronic pain. Coming to MD Anderson in 2012, she focused her research on cognitive impairments and neuropathy as a result of cancer and its treatment. They explore mechanisms of ‘chemobrain’ with a focus on neuronal mitochondrial dysfunction and novel interventions with a focus on nasal cellular therapies using mesenchymal stem cells or organelles derived from these cells as a way to cure chemobrain.

Fields of Interest

• Neuroimmunology
• Pain
• Cancer
• Cognitive Impairments
• Stem Cells
• Cytokines
• Stress