Page 29 - Rappaport Institute Magazine 2024

IMMUNOLOGY
26-27
Brain control of immunity
Summary: My group studies the philosophical mind-body problem from a physiological perspective. We approach this problem by studying the connection between the brain and the immune system, the organism’s main protection mechanism. We aim to understand how the brain responds to immune challenges and how specific brain activities tied to emotions and cognition impact the immune system. By dissecting the physiological mechanisms that enable this brain-immune crosstalk, we aim to decipher novel mechanisms of psychosomatic disorders and utilize the body’s natural healing capabilities.
Selected Publications
ˆ Ben-Shaanan TL, Azulay-Debby H, Dubovik T, Starosvetsky E, Korin B, Schiller M, Green NL, Admon Y, Hakim F, Shen-Orr SS*, Rolls A*. Activation of the reward system boosts innate and adaptive immunity. Nature Med. 2016 Aug;22(8):940- 4. doi: 10.1038/nm.4133. PubMed PMID: 27376577.
ˆ Ben-Shaanan TL, Schiller M, Azulay-Debby H, Korin B, Boshnak N, Koren T,
Krot M, Shakya J, Rahat MA, Hakim F, Rolls A. Modulation of anti-tumor immunity by the brain’s reward system. Nature Commun. 2018 Jul 13;9(1):2723. doi: 10.1038/s41467 -018-05283-5 PubMed PMID: 30006573
ˆ Korin B, Ben-Shaanan TL, Schiller M, Dubovik T, Azulay-Debby H, Boshnak NT, Koren T, Rolls. High-dimensional, single-cell characterization of the brain’s immune compartment. Nature Neurosci. 2017 Sep;20(9):1300-1309. doi: 10.1038/ nn.4610. PubMed PMID: 28758994.
ˆ Koren T., Yifa R., Amer M., Krot M., Boshnak N., Ben-Shaanan TL., Azulay- Debby H., Zalayat I., Avishai E., Hajjo H, Schiller M., Haykin H., Korin B., Farfara D., Hakim F., Kobiler O., Rosenblum K., and Rolls A., Insular Cortex Neurons Encode and Retrieve Specific Immune Responses, Cell 2021. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.10.013
Grants and Awards
2017 – Krill Prize for excellence in scientific research
2017 – Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI)-Wellcome - International Research Scholar
2017-2022 – ERC starting grant Neuronal regulation of immunity
2018 – Elected member of the Israeli Young Academy of Science and Humanities 2019 – Rappaport prize for Young and Promising Scientist
2023 – The Weizmann Prize for exact sciences
2023-2028 – ERC consolidator grant Neuronal regulation of the fascia
rolls@technion.ac.il
Asya Rolls Lab
Asya Rolls, PhD Professor of Neuroimmunology
PhD, 2007 – Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
Neuronal ensembles in the mouse insular cortex activated during distinct inflammatory conditions are capable of retrieving or suppressing the associated peripheral immunological responses