Oliver Harschnitz
- Research Group Leader, Harschnitz Group
Oliver Harschnitz is a group leader at Human Technopole at the Centre for Neurogenomics. His research group focuses on the development and application of a wide range of cutting-edge human pluripotent stem cell models to better understand the molecular mechanisms that underlie viral and autoimmune encephalitis and to identify the drivers of chronic inflammation in the brain. As a clinician-scientist, his research is aimed at finding therapeutic targets that may be directly translated to patients who suffer from neuroimmunological disease.
Oliver obtained his medical degree at the University of Maastricht (The Netherlands) in 2009 and completed his PhD in the groups of Leonard van den Berg and Jeroen Pasterkamp at Utrecht University Medical Center (The Netherlands) in 2017, while gaining clinical experience as a neurology resident. During his PhD, Oliver developed human pluripotent stem cell models to study inflammatory neuropathies and motor neuron disease. From 2017 to 2021, he continued his postdoctoral research in the lab of Lorenz Studer at Sloan Kettering Institute (USA) studying host-virus interactions in the central nervous system using human pluripotent stem cell models and forward genetic screens.
Fellowships and Awards
2021: Warren Alpert Distinguished Scholars Fellowship
2020: NYSTEM Postdoctoral Training Award
2020: Brain Behavior Research Foundation NARSAD Young Investigator Award
2018: Best poster presentation at MSKCC Postdoc Research Symposium
2018: Brain Center Rudolf Magnus Biannual Award for Best Thesis
2017: Best presentation at Annual BRCM PhD Symposium
2014: Best presentation at Dutch Neurology Society Scientific Meeting
2014: Arthur K. Asbury Award at Peripheral Nerve Society Scientific Meeting
Contacts
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Publications
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08/2018 - PNAS
Human iPSC-derived trigeminal neurons lack constitutive TLR3-dependent immunity that protects cortical neurons from HSV-1 infection
Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) encephalitis (HSE) is the most common sporadic viral encephalitis in Western countries. Some HSE children carry inborn errors of the Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3)-dependent IFN-α/β– and -λ–inducing pathway. Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cortical neurons with TLR3 pathway mutations are highly susceptible to HSV-1, due to impairment of cell-intrinsic […]
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04/2016 - Annals of Neurology
Autoantibody pathogenicity in a multifocal motor neuropathy induced pluripotent stem cell–derived model
Objective We investigated the pathogenicity of immunoglobulin M (IgM) anti‐GM1 antibodies in serum from patients with multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) using human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)‐derived motor neurons (MNs). Methods iPSCs were generated from fibroblasts and differentiated into MNs. We studied the binding of IgM to MNs, their complement‐activating properties, and effects on structural […]
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