Lab Members
Principal Investigator
Professor
Email: RDantzer@MDAnderson.org
Dr. Robert Dantzer employs both basic science and clinical research to investigate the mechanisms of inflammation-induced sickness and depression, with the objectives of understanding how the immune message propagates from the periphery to the brain and how brain cytokines can ultimately affect behavior. He incorporates neuroanatomy, cellular and molecular biology, and behavioral pharmacology approaches in wild-type and transgenic mice. In his studies of the mechanisms of the dissociation between sickness and depression, he discovered that the tryptophan-degrading enzyme indoleamine 2,3 dioxygenase plays a causal role in the transition from sickness to depression. Today, he continues his work in studies of the pathophysiology and treatment of cancer-related fatigue and depression.
Dr. Dantzer holds adjunct affiliations with Rice University and UTHealth Houston. He earned doctoral degrees in veterinary science and behavioral neuroscience from the University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France.
Dr. Dantzer is one of the original founders of the Neuroimmunology Laboratories as a new basic science effort alongside the existing clinical research within the department of Symptom Research. The Neuroimmunology Labs have grown into four individual full-fledged labs within the department.
Current Lab Members
Lucy (Chinenye) Chidomere, B.S.
Research Assistant II
Chinenye joined the Dantzer Lab in July 2022 after earning her bachelor¡¯s degree in biomedical engineering from the University of Houston. Her research in the lab has focused on understanding the role of GDF15 and the cGAS¨CSTING pathway in mediating cancer-related fatigue. More recently, she has expanded her work to investigate how tumor-innervating nerves influence behavioral health.
Outside the lab, Chinenye enjoys spending time with family and friends, watching movies and exploring Houston¡¯s restaurants and caf¨¦s.
Ava Elizabeth Yoder
Undergraduate Research Volunteer
Ava is a freshman at Rice University studying health sciences and social policy analysis, with a strong interest in health policy and the social implications of medicine. She plans to pursue her masters' degree in public health and to attend medical school in the future, integrating public health and clinical practice.
In her spare time, Ava enjoys reading, baking and listening to weird history podcasts.