Himes Lab

Dr. Benjamin T. Himes MD, PhD, MHS | Assistant Professor

Department of Neurological Surgery

Department of Microbiology and Immunology

 

 

Benjamin Himes attained his medical degree at Yale University and completed his Neurosurgical residency as well as his doctorate at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. He is currently an Associate Professor of Neurosurgery as well as Microbiology and Immunology at Montefiore/Einstein and specializes in the management and treatment of primary and metastatic CNS tumors. His research focus is on the role and impact of Extracellular Vesicles on the Glioblastoma Tumor Microenvironment as well as the various immunosuppressive mechanisms that contribute to therapeutic failure.

Extracellular Vesicles in Glioblastoma​

Extracellular Vesicles (EVs) or Exosomes are small, lipid bilayer particles, typically less than 200 nanometers, that contain bioactive molecules including proteins and nucleic acids that shape the tumor microenvironment through intercellular interaction. EVs have been implicated in various tumorigenic processes and contribute to an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment especially in Glioblastoma by impairing effector T cells and inducing various immunosuppressive immune cell subsets (i.e. regulatory T cells and myeloid-derived suppressor cells) and immune checkpoint markers such as PD-1/PD-L1. The Himes Lab is dedicated to characterizing the mechanisms underlying EV release, their interaction with various immune cells that contribute to the overall immunosuppressive nature of GBM, as well as their global impact on peripheral immunosuppression.  ​

 Selected Publications

  • For a full list of publications, please click here​

  • Ayasoufi K, Pfaller CK, Evgin L, Khadka RH, Tritz ZP, Goddery EN, Fain CE, Yokanovich LT, Himes BT, Jin F, Zheng J, Schuelke MR, Hansen MJ, Tung W, Parney IF, Pease LR, Vile RG, Johnson AJ (2020) Brain cancer induces systemic immunosuppression through release of non-steroid soluble mediators. Brain : a journal of neurology 143 (12):3629-3652. doi:10.1093/brain/awaa343​

  • Brown DA, Himes BT, Kerezoudis P, Chilinda-Salter YM, Grewal SS, Spear JA, Bydon M, Burns TC, Parney IF (2018) Insurance correlates with improved access to care and outcome among glioblastoma patients. Neuro-oncology 20 (10):1374-1382. doi:10.1093/neuonc/noy102​

  • Brown DA, Himes BT, Major BT, Mundell BF, Kumar R, Kall B, Meyer FB, Link MJ, Pollock BE, Atkinson JD, Van Gompel JJ, Marsh WR, Lanzino G, Bydon M, Parney IF (2018) Cranial Tumor Surgical Outcomes at a High-Volume Academic Referral Center. Mayo Clinic proceedings 93 (1):16-24. doi:10.1016/j.mayocp.2017.08.023​

  • Himes BT, Arnett AL, Merrell KW, Gates MJ, Bhargav AG, Raghunathan A, Brown DA, Burns TC, Parney IF (2020) Glioblastoma Recurrence Versus Treatment Effect in a Pathology-Documented Series. The Canadian journal of neurological sciences Le journal canadien des sciences neurologiques 47 (4):525-530. doi:10.1017/cjn.2020.36​

  • Himes BT, Fain CE, Tritz ZP, Nesvick CL, Jin-Lee HJ, Geiger PA, Peterson TE, Jung MY, Parney IF (2023) Use of heparin to rescue immunosuppressive monocyte reprogramming by glioblastoma-derived extracellular vesicles. Journal of neurosurgery 138 (5):1291-1301. doi:10.3171/2022.6.jns2274​

  • Himes BT, Geiger PA, Ayasoufi K, Bhargav AG, Brown DA, Parney IF (2021) Immunosuppression in Glioblastoma: Current Understanding and Therapeutic Implications. Frontiers in oncology 11:770561. doi:10.3389/fonc.2021.770561​

  • Himes BT, Peterson TE, de Mooij T, Garcia LMC, Jung MY, Uhm S, Yan D, Tyson J, Jin-Lee HJ, Parney D, Abukhadra Y, Gustafson MP, Dietz AB, Johnson AJ, Dong H, Maus RL, Markovic S, Lucien F, Parney IF (2020) The role of extracellular vesicles and PD-L1 in glioblastoma-mediated immunosuppressive monocyte induction. Neuro-oncology 22 (7):967-978. doi:10.1093/neuonc/noaa029​

  • Himes BT, Zhang L, Daniels DJ (2022) Deploying Kinase Inhibitors to Study Pediatric Gliomas. Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, NJ) 2415:167-173. doi:10.1007/978-1-0716-1904-9_12​

  • Liu J, Wang X, Chen AT, Gao X, Himes BT, Zhang H, Chen Z, Wang J, Sheu WC, Deng G, Xiao Y, Zou P, Zhang S, Liu F, Zhu Y, Fan R, Patel TR, Saltzman WM, Zhou J (2022) ZNF117 regulates glioblastoma stem cell differentiation towards oligodendroglial lineage. Nature communications 13 (1):2196. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-29884-3​