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Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Amy Heimberger Lab

Publications

Learn more about the work we do in the Heimberger laboratory through our recent publications.

  1. Tripathi S, Najem H, Hurley L, Du R, Dmello C, Ali H, McCortney K, Habashy KJ, Zhang P, Horbinski CM  et al.  STING-induced blood-brain barrier opening combined with radiotherapy potentiates antitumor response in a high-grade glioma model.  J Clin Invest  2026 Feb 16;136(4). pii:e198843
  2. Abi Faraj C, McCutcheon IE, Strickland BA, Debnam JM, Suki D, Lin HY, Ahmed S, O'Brien BJ, Gubbiotti MA, Mayer RR  et al.  Ventricular entry and postoperative leptomeningeal metastasis after resection of supratentorial high-grade glioma.  J Neurosurg  2026 Feb 13;:1-15. doi:10.3171/2025.9.JNS25526
  3. Youngblood MW, Tripathi S, Najem H, Congivaram H, Gomez M, Sears TK, Hurley L, Billingham LK, Silvers C, Wang W  et al.  STING activation induces cytotoxic and immune responses in meningiomas via inflammatory cell death pathways.  Nat Commun  2026 Feb 12;. doi:10.1038/s41467-026-69296-1
  4. Castellino RC, Mumme H, Franson A, Yu B, Robinson H, Dhodapkar K, Aguilera D, Schniederjan M, Keesari R, He Z  et al.  First-in-child phase I trial of p-STAT3 inhibitor WP1066 in pediatric brain tumor patients.  JCI Insight  2026 Feb 09;11(3). pii:e194823
  5. Lukas RV, Du R, Congivaram H, McCortney K, Dixit K, Horbinski C, Schwartz M, Lezon R, Singer L, Primdahl D  et al.  Consideration of spatial companion biomarkers for targeted therapeutics in cancer: depatuxizumab mafodotin in glioblastoma.  JCI Insight  2026 Feb 03;. pii:e198475
  6. Aggarwal A, Youngblood MW, Picart T, Najem H, Oten S, Cady MA, Magill ST, Horbinkski CM, Chandler JP, Heimberger AB  et al.  Meningioma cell reprogramming and microenvironment interactions underlie brain invasion.  Neuro Oncol  2025 Dec 31;. pii:noaf292
  7. Duckett D, Santana-Santos L, McCord M, Smith V, Lopes MBS, Youngblood MW, Magill ST, Chandler JP, Heimberger AB, Lukas R  et al.  Development, validation, and utility of a clinically applicable methylation classifier for recurrence risk prediction in meningiomas.  Acta Neuropathol Commun  2025 Dec 29;13(1):259. pii:259
  8. Sadagopan NS, Gomez M, Tripathi S, Billingham LK, DeLay SL, Cady MA, Congivaram HTS, Chia TY, Wan H, Wang S  et al.  NOTCH3 drives fatty acid oxidation and ferroptosis resistance in aggressive meningiomas.  J Neurooncol  2025 Dec;175(3):979-991. doi:10.1007/s11060-025-05208-5
  9. Fanuzzi M, Zheng S, Horbinski CM, Shaaban MA, Congivaram H, Du R, Tripathi S, Hurley L, Kumthekar P, Ahmed A  et al.  Targeting Survivin: Now I Become Death, the Destroyer of Cells.  Int J Mol Sci  2025 Nov 26;26(23). pii:11417
  10. Mahajan AS, Dussold C, Kim S, Jarvis R, Hurley LA, Tommasini-Ghelfi S, Park J, Forsyth CM, Zhang B, Miska J  et al.  cGAS-agonistic spherical nucleic acids reprogram the glioblastoma immune microenvironment and promote antitumor immunity.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A  2025 Nov 11;122(45):e2409557122. pii:e2409557122
  11. Zannikou M, Duffy JT, Procissi D, Najem H, Levine RN, Thakur A, Hambardzumyan D, Lee-Chang C, Leoni L, Horbinski CM  et al.  Bi-specific T cell-engaging antibody triggers protective immune memory and glioma microenvironment remodeling in immune-competent preclinical models.  J Immunother Cancer  2025 Oct 28;13(10). pii:e011714
  12. Hung CY, Kang EY, Jacek K, Yu C, Zhang X, Zhu Y, Aftabizadeh M, Wong RA, Badie B, Świderski P  et al.  Multimodal glioma immunotherapy combining TLR9-targeted STAT3 antisense oligodeoxynucleotides with PD1 immune checkpoint blockade.  Neuro Oncol  2025 Oct 14;27(9):2296-2312. doi:10.1093/neuonc/noaf099
  13. Wainwright D, Lukas R, Zhai L, Lauing K, Kim M, Koch T, Penco-Campillo M, Bommi P, Dixit K, Kumthekar P  et al.  Newly diagnosed glioblastoma IDHwt patients treated with radiation, nivolumab, and BMS-986205.  Res Sq  2025 Sep 25;. pii:rs.3.rs-7567487
  14. Khalili BF, Dixit K, Kamson DO, Horbinski C, Przybyla DJ, Tate MC, Heimberger AB, Lukas RV, Templer JW  The excitatory milieu in glioma: Mechanisms and therapeutic avenues.  Neuro Oncol  2025 Sep 17;27(8):1932-1945. doi:10.1093/neuonc/noaf063
  15. Arrieta VA, Benotmane JK, Du R, Habashy KJ, Zhao J, Najem H, Wang S, Hou D, Katz JL, Vázquez-Cervantes GI  et al.  Integrated immune profiling of chordomas reveals spatially organized niches and functional heterogeneity.  Neuro Oncol  2025 Sep 11;. pii:noaf213
  16. Castellani RJ, Najem H, Heimberger AB, Jamshidi P  Myeloid-mediated cerebral amyloid vasculitis and the potential role of the immune response in brain atrophy.  J Clin Invest  2025 Sep 02;135(17). pii:e195137
  17. Yeboa DN, Li J, Lin R, Prabhu SS, Beckham TH, Woodhouse K, Swanson TA, Weinberg JS, Wang X, Chi X  et al.  Therapy, Safety, and Logistics of Preoperative vs Postoperative Stereotactic Radiation Therapy: A Preliminary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.  JAMA Oncol  2025 Aug 01;11(8):890-899. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2025.1770
  18. Qian H, Ali H, Karri V, Low JT, Ashley DM, Heimberger AB, Godley LA, Sonabend AM, Dmello C  Beyond DNA damage response: Immunomodulatory attributes of CHEK2 in solid tumors.  Oncotarget  2025 Jun 10;16:445-453. doi:10.18632/oncotarget.28740
  19. Sadagopan NS, Gomez M, Tripathi S, Billingham LK, DeLay SL, Cady MA, Congivaram HTS, Chia TY, Wan H, Wang S  et al.  NOTCH3 Drives Fatty Acid Oxidation and Ferroptosis Resistance in Aggressive Meningiomas.  Res Sq  2025 Jun 04;. pii:rs.3.rs-6779386
  20. Young JS, Cho NW, Lucas CG, Najem H, Mirchia K, Chen WC, Seo K, Zakimi N, Daggubati V, Casey-Clyde T  et al.  IL-6 underlies microenvironment immunosuppression and resistance to therapy in glioblastoma.  bioRxiv  2025 Mar 14;. pii:2025.03.12.642800
  21. Pedder JH, Sonabend AM, Cearns MD, Michael BD, Zakaria R, Heimberger AB, Jenkinson MD, Dickens D  Crossing the blood-brain barrier: emerging therapeutic strategies for neurological disease.  Lancet Neurol  2025 Mar;24(3):246-260. doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(24)00476-9
  22. Najem H, Pacheco S, Turunen J, Tripathi S, Steffens A, McCortney K, Walshon J, Chandler J, Stupp R, Lesniak MS  et al.  High Dimensional Proteomic Multiplex Imaging of the Central Nervous System Using the COMET™ System.  bioRxiv  2025 Feb 19;. pii:2025.02.14.638299
  23. Du R, Zhang J, Lukas RV, Tripathi S, Ahrendsen JT, Curran MA, Dmello C, Zhang P, Stupp R, Rao G  et al.  Is modulation of immune checkpoints on glioblastoma-infiltrating myeloid cells a viable therapeutic strategy?  Neuro Oncol  2025 Jan 12;27(1):33-49. doi:10.1093/neuonc/noae193
  24. Baskaran AB, Kozel OA, Venkatesh O, Wainwright DA, Sonabend AM, Heimberger AB, Lukas RV  Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors in Glioblastoma IDHwt Treatment: A Systematic Review.  Cancers (Basel)  2024 Dec 12;16(24). pii:4148
  25. Gupta P, Dang M, Oberai S, Migliozzi S, Trivedi R, Kumar G, Peshoff M, Milam N, Ahmed A, Bojja K  et al.  Immune landscape of isocitrate dehydrogenase-stratified primary and recurrent human gliomas.  Neuro Oncol  2024 Dec 05;26(12):2239-2255. doi:10.1093/neuonc/noae139
  26. Kim KS, Habashy K, Gould A, Zhao J, Najem H, Amidei C, Saganty R, Arrieta VA, Dmello C, Chen L  et al.  Fc-enhanced anti-CTLA-4, anti-PD-1, doxorubicin, and ultrasound-mediated blood-brain barrier opening: A novel combinatorial immunotherapy regimen for gliomas.  Neuro Oncol  2024 Nov 04;26(11):2044-2060. doi:10.1093/neuonc/noae135
  27. Choudhury A, Cady MA, Lucas CG, Najem H, Phillips JJ, Palikuqi B, Zakimi N, Joseph T, Birrueta JO, Chen WC  et al.  Perivascular NOTCH3+ Stem Cells Drive Meningioma Tumorigenesis and Resistance to Radiotherapy.  Cancer Discov  2024 Oct 04;14(10):1823-1837. doi:10.1158/2159-8290.CD-23-1459
  28. Hotchkiss KM, Karschnia P, Schreck KC, Geurts M, Cloughesy TF, Huse J, Duke ES, Lathia J, Ashley DM, Nduom EK  et al.  A brave new framework for glioma drug development.  Lancet Oncol  2024 Oct;25(10):e512-e519. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(24)00190-6
  29. Liu Y, Wu J, Najem H, Lin Y, Pang L, Khan F, Zhou F, Ali H, Heimberger AB, Chen P  Dual targeting macrophages and microglia is a therapeutic vulnerability in models of PTEN-deficient glioblastoma.  J Clin Invest  2024 Oct 01;134(22). pii:e178628
  30. Wang S, Castro BA, Katz JL, Arrieta V, Najem H, Vazquez-Cervantes GI, Wan H, Olson IE, Hou D, Dapash M  et al.  B cell-based therapy produces antibodies that inhibit glioblastoma growth.  J Clin Invest  2024 Aug 29;134(20). pii:e177384
  31. Tripathi S, Najem H, Dussold C, Pacheco S, Du R, Sooreshjani M, Hurley L, Chandler JP, Stupp R, Sonabend AM  et al.  Pediatric glioma immune profiling identifies TIM3 as a therapeutic target in BRAF fusion pilocytic astrocytoma.  J Clin Invest  2024 Aug 13;134(19). pii:e177413
  32. Najem H, Pacheco S, Kowal J, Winkowski D, Burks JK, Heimberger AB  Protocol to quantify immune cell distribution from the vasculature to the glioma microenvironment on sequential immunofluorescence multiplex images.  STAR Protoc  2024 Jun 21;5(2):103079. pii:103079
  33. Najem H, Lea ST, Tripathi S, Hurley L, Chen CH, William I, Sooreshjani M, Bowie M, Hartley G, Dussold C  et al.  STING agonist 8803 reprograms the immune microenvironment and increases survival in preclinical models of glioblastoma.  J Clin Invest  2024 Jun 17;134(12). pii:e175033
  34. Lucas CG, Mirchia K, Seo K, Najem H, Chen WC, Zakimi N, Foster K, Eaton CD, Cady MA, Choudhury A  et al.  Spatial genomic, biochemical and cellular mechanisms underlying meningioma heterogeneity and evolution.  Nat Genet  2024 Jun;56(6):1121-1133. doi:10.1038/s41588-024-01747-1
  35. Du R, Tripathi S, Najem H, Brat DJ, Lukas RV, Zhang P, Heimberger AB  Glioblastoma Phagocytic Cell Death: Balancing the Opportunities for Therapeutic Manipulation.  Cells  2024 May 11;13(10). pii:823
  36. Ene CI, Abi Faraj C, Beckham TH, Weinberg JS, Andersen CR, Haider AS, Rao G, Ferguson SD, Alvarez-Brenkenridge CA, Kim BYS  et al.  Response of treatment-naive brain metastases to stereotactic radiosurgery.  Nat Commun  2024 May 02;15(1):3728. pii:3728
  37. Trybula SJ, Youngblood MW, Karras CL, Murthy NK, Heimberger AB, Lukas RV, Sachdev S, Kalapurakal JA, Chandler JP, Brat DJ  et al.  The Evolving Classification of Meningiomas: Integration of Molecular Discoveries to Inform Patient Care.  Cancers (Basel)  2024 Apr 30;16(9). pii:1753
  38. Kudruk S, Forsyth CM, Dion MZ, Hedlund Orbeck JK, Luo J, Klein RS, Kim AH, Heimberger AB, Mirkin CA, Stegh AH  et al.  Multimodal neuro-nanotechnology: Challenging the existing paradigm in glioblastoma therapy.  Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A  2024 Feb 20;121(8):e2306973121. pii:e2306973121
  39. Tripathi S, Najem H, Dussold C, Pacheco S, Miska J, McCortney K, Steffens A, Walshon J, Winkowski D, Cloney M  et al.  Cancer-associated fibroblast-secreted collagen is associated with immune inhibitor receptor LAIR1 in gliomas.  J Clin Invest  2024 Feb 15;134(4). pii:e176613
  40. Hou D, Wan H, Katz JL, Wang S, Castro BA, Vazquez-Cervantes GI, Arrieta VA, Dhiantravan S, Najem H, Rashidi A  et al.  Antigen-presenting B cells promote TCF-1+ PD1- stem-like CD8+ T-cell proliferation in glioblastoma.  Front Immunol  2023;14:1295218. pii:1295218
  41. Tripathi S, Nathan CL, Tate MC, Horbinski CM, Templer JW, Rosenow JM, Sita TL, James CD, Deneen B, Miller SD  et al.  The immune system and metabolic products in epilepsy and glioma-associated epilepsy: emerging therapeutic directions.  JCI Insight  2024 Jan 09;9(1). pii:e174753
  42. Najem H, Arrieta VA, Duffy J, Tripathi S, Zannikou M, Dhiantravan S, Miska J, McCortney K, Steffens A, Walshon J  et al.  Prohibitin Expression in Antigen-Presenting Cells: Implications for Inciting Trigger in CNS IgG4-Related Disease.  Ann Case Rep  2024;9(1). pii:1607
  43. Fares J, Petrosyan E, Kanojia D, Dmello C, Cordero A, Duffy JT, Yeeravalli R, Sahani MH, Zhang P, Rashidi A  et al.  Metixene is an incomplete autophagy inducer in preclinical models of metastatic cancer and brain metastases.  J Clin Invest  2023 Dec 15;133(24). pii:e161142
  44. McCord M, Jamshidi P, Thirunavu V, Santana-Santos L, Vormittag-Nocito E, Dittman D, Parker S, Baczkowski J, Jennings L, Walshon J  et al.  Variant allelic frequencies of driver mutations can identify gliomas with potentially false-negative MGMT promoter methylation results.  Acta Neuropathol Commun  2023 Nov 02;11(1):175. pii:175
  45. Heimberger AB, Tripathi S, Platanias LC  Targeting Cytokines and Their Pathways for the Treatment of Cancer.  Cancers (Basel)  2023 Oct 30;15(21). pii:5224
  46. Youngblood MW, Erson-Omay Z, Li C, Najem H, Coșkun S, Tyrtova E, Montejo JD, Miyagishima DF, Barak T, Nishimura S  et al.  Super-enhancer hijacking drives ectopic expression of hedgehog pathway ligands in meningiomas.  Nat Commun  2023 Oct 07;14(1):6279. pii:6279
  47. Sim HW, Wachsmuth L, Barnes EH, Yip S, Koh ES, Hall M, Jennens R, Ashley DM, Verhaak RG, Heimberger AB  et al.  NUTMEG: A randomized phase II study of nivolumab and temozolomide versus temozolomide alone in newly diagnosed older patients with glioblastoma.  Neurooncol Adv  2023;5(1):vdad124. pii:vdad124
  48. Wu SA, Jia DT, Schwartz M, Mulcahy M, Guo K, Tate MC, Sachdev S, Kostelecky N, Escobar DJ, Brat DJ  et al.  HER2+ esophageal carcinoma leptomeningeal metastases treated with intrathecal trastuzumab regimen.  CNS Oncol  2023 Sep 01;12(3):CNS99. pii:CNS99
  49. Ren X, Manzanares LD, Piccolo EB, Urbanczyk JM, Sullivan DP, Yalom LK, Bui TM, Lantz C, Najem H, Dulai PS  et al.  Macrophage-endothelial cell crosstalk orchestrates neutrophil recruitment in inflamed mucosa.  J Clin Invest  2023 Aug 01;133(15). pii:e170733
  50. Sooreshjani M, Tripathi S, Dussold C, Najem H, de Groot J, Lukas RV, Heimberger AB  The Use of Targeted Cytokines as Cancer Therapeutics in Glioblastoma.  Cancers (Basel)  2023 Jul 23;15(14). pii:3739

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