Michelle Monje

Michelle Monje is a founder of the cancer neuroscience field, demonstrating that neuronal activity drives brain tumor growth through activity-regulated paracrine and synaptic mechanisms, and discovering that high-grade gliomas integrate into neural circuits through functional neuron-to-glioma synapses. Her laboratory identified NLGN3 as a neuronal activity-regulated mitogen essential for glioma growth and showed that pharmacological or genetic blockade of NLGN3 reduces tumor growth. She has extended neuron-tumor interaction concepts beyond brain tumors to show that peripheral nerves promote solid tumor growth. Her paradigm-shifting work has created a new field of cancer biology.