Jonathan Kipnis

Kipnis was born into a Jewish family in Tbilisi, Georgia. His father and maternal grandmother were both physicians and his mother was an academic with a focus in Russian literature and language. Surrounded by physicians, Kipnis knew from a young age that he wanted to cure diseases.{{Cite web|title=Jonathan Kipnis, PhD, recipient of the 2018 Pioneer in Medicine - YouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-41YU-nQrMc|access-date=2021-01-04|website=www.youtube.com}} He received his undergraduate degree in biology at Tel Aviv University in Ramat Aviv, Israel{{Cite web|title=Jonathan Kipnis, PhD {{!}} Pathology & Immunology {{!}} Washington University in St. Louis|url=https://pathology.wustl.edu/people/jonathan-kipnis-phd/|access-date=2021-01-04|website=pathology.wustl.edu|language=en-US}} in 1998, and his Master's in neurobiology at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel in 1999.

For his graduate training, Kipnis remained at the Weizmann Institute of Science. He first worked with Moshe Oren in cancer immunology,{{Cite web|title=Moshe Oren|url=https://rettsyndrome.wordpress.com/tag/moshe-oren/|access-date=2021-01-04|website=Rett Syndrome Research Trust Blog|language=en}} but was inspired by Michal Schwartz, to pursue a PhD in neuroimmunology. He joined Schwartz's lab the year that they discovered the therapeutic benefit of T cells in spinal cord and brain injury, a pioneering finding that began the study of the protective roles of autoimmunity in CNS disease.{{cite web|title=Immune System Maintains Brain Health - The Scientist Magazine|url=http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/47289/title/Immune-System-Maintains-Brain-Health/|accessdate=22 December 2016}} This was the beginning of Kipnis' career exploring the connections between the brain and the immune system.{{Cite web|title=Jonathan Kipnis on discovering the brain's lymphatic system|url=https://www.neuro-central.com/videos/jonathan-kipnis-discovering-brains-lymphatic-system/|access-date=2021-01-04|website=Neuro Central}}

In the Schwartz Lab, Kipnis' work focused on T cell based autoimmune reactions in CNS injury and neurodegeneration.{{Cite journal|last1=Schwartz|first1=Michal|last2=Kipnis|first2=Jonathan|date=2005-06-15|title=Protective autoimmunity and neuroprotection in inflammatory and noninflammatory neurodegenerative diseases|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15949502/|journal=Journal of the Neurological Sciences|volume=233|issue=1–2|pages=163–166|doi=10.1016/j.jns.2005.03.014|issn=0022-510X|pmid=15949502|s2cid=549851}} Kipnis elucidated the pleiotropic roles of regulatory T cells in CNS injury versus CNS homeostasis.{{Cite journal|last1=Kipnis|first1=Jonathan|last2=Mizrahi|first2=Tal|last3=Hauben|first3=Ehud|last4=Shaked|first4=Iftach|last5=Shevach|first5=Ethan|last6=Schwartz|first6=Michal|date=2002-11-26|title=Neuroprotective autoimmunity: naturally occurring CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells suppress the ability to withstand injury to the central nervous system|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=99|issue=24|pages=15620–15625|doi=10.1073/pnas.232565399|issn=0027-8424|pmid=12429857|pmc=137766|bibcode=2002PNAS...9915620K |doi-access=free}} By depleting naturally occurring regulatory T cells after CNS injury, he was able to improve neuronal survival in mice. However, by up-regulating effector autoimmune T cells through immunization with CNS antigen, he was able to improve recovery after CNS injury. These results showed that the immune system's intrinsic mechanisms to protect against autoimmunity, might not be beneficial when insults demand autoimmune effector function for tissue maintenance.

Kipnis remained at the Weizmann for his postdoctoral training in Schwartz's lab. In this period he and other members of the lab, discovered that brain antigen specific T cells play a role in neurogenesis and cognitive functions, such as memory and spatial learning.{{Cite journal|last1=Ziv|first1=Yaniv|last2=Ron|first2=Noga|last3=Butovsky|first3=Oleg|last4=Landa|first4=Gennady|last5=Sudai|first5=Einav|last6=Greenberg|first6=Nadav|last7=Cohen|first7=Hagit|last8=Kipnis|first8=Jonathan|last9=Schwartz|first9=Michal|date=February 2006|title=Immune cells contribute to the maintenance of neurogenesis and spatial learning abilities in adulthood|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16415867/|journal=Nature Neuroscience|volume=9|issue=2|pages=268–275|doi=10.1038/nn1629|issn=1097-6256|pmid=16415867|s2cid=205430936}} This was one of the seminal findings showing that the immune system, through T cells, plays a role in cognition and brain homeostasis.{{Cite web|title=The vital link between your immune system and brain|url=https://www.macleans.ca/society/health/a-healthy-immune-system-is-the-key-to-a-healthy-mind/|access-date=2021-01-04|website=www.macleans.ca}}

Kipnis joined the University of Virginia School of Medicine (UVA) in 2007, where he later became a Harrison Distinguished Professor and chair of the department of neuroscience. He also directed the Center for Brain Immunology and Glia (BIG Center) at UVA.{{cite web|title=Jonathan Kipnis, Ph.D.|url=http://curealz.org/people/jonathan-kipnis|accessdate=22 December 2016}} In 2019, he accepted an offer to join the Washington University School of Medicine faculty via the BJC Investigators Program. He is primarily appointed in the department of pathology and immunology, and secondarily in neurology, neuroscience, and neurosurgery. Kipnis is also a Gutenberg Forschungskolleg Fellow and supervises a working group at the University of Mainz.{{cite web|title=Newsdetail - Universitätsmedizin Mainz - 165|date=22 October 2015 |url=http://www.unimedizin-mainz.de/presse/pressemitteilungen/aktuelle-mitteilungen/newsdetail/article/gutenberg-forschungskolleg-ernennt-jonathan-kipnis-und-jochen-roeper-zu-gfk-fellows.html|accessdate=22 December 2016}}

Kipnis is credited with the 2014 discovery of meningeal lymphatic vessels, a recently discovered network of conventional lymphatic vessels located parallel to the dural sinuses and meningeal arteries of the mammalian central nervous system (CNS). As a part of the lymphatic system, the meningeal lymphatics are responsible for draining immune cells, small molecules, and excess fluid from the CNS and into the deep cervical lymph nodes. While it was initially believed that both the brain and meninges were devoid of lymphatic vasculature, the 2015 Nature paper by Jonathan Kipnis and his postdoctoral fellow Antoine Louveau reporting their discovery was cited more than 3000 times by 2022{{cite journal|title=Structural and functional features of central nervous system lymphatic vessels|journal=Nature|first1=Antoine|last1=Louveau|first2=Igor|last2=Smirnov|first3=Timothy J.|last3=Keyes|first4=Jacob D.|last4=Eccles|first5=Sherin J.|last5=Rouhani|first6=J. David|last6=Peske|first7=Noel C.|last7=Derecki|first8=David|last8=Castle|first9=James W.|last9=Mandell|first10=Kevin S.|last10=Lee|first11=Tajie H.|last11=Harris|first12=Jonathan|last12=Kipnis|date=16 July 2015|volume=523|issue=7560|pages=337–341|doi=10.1038/nature14432|pmid=26030524|pmc=4506234|bibcode=2015Natur.523..337L }}

His discovery of meningeal lymphatic vessels was included in Scientific American's "Top 10 Science Stories of 2015", Science Magazine's "Breakthrough of the Year", Huffington Post's "Eight Fascinating Things We Learned About the Mind in 2015" and the National Institutes of Health's director Francis Collins year end review.{{cite web|url=https://med.virginia.edu/neuroscience/kipnis-lab/media-coverage-of-our-discoveries/|title=Media coverage of our discoveries|accessdate=22 December 2016|archive-date=24 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160924125853/https://med.virginia.edu/neuroscience/kipnis-lab/media-coverage-of-our-discoveries/|url-status=dead}}

Other research has included the 2015 discovery that the immune system directly affects social behavior and that IFN-gamma is necessary for social development.{{cite web|url=https://news.virginia.edu/content/shocking-new-role-found-immune-system-controlling-social-interactions|title=Shocking New Role Found for the Immune System: Controlling Social Interactions|date=13 July 2016|accessdate=22 December 2016}}{{cite journal|title=Unexpected role of interferon-γ in regulating neuronal connectivity and social behaviour|first1=Anthony J.|last1=Filiano|first2=Yang|last2=Xu|first3=Nicholas J.|last3=Tustison|first4=Rachel L.|last4=Marsh|first5=Wendy|last5=Baker|first6=Igor|last6=Smirnov|first7=Christopher C.|last7=Overall|first8=Sachin P.|last8=Gadani|first9=Stephen D.|last9=Turner|first10=Zhiping|last10=Weng|first11=Sayeda Najamussahar|last11=Peerzade|first12=Hao|last12=Chen|first13=Kevin S.|last13=Lee|first14=Michael M.|last14=Scott|first15=Mark P.|last15=Beenhakker|first16=Vladimir|last16=Litvak|first17=Jonathan|last17=Kipnis|date=21 July 2016|journal=Nature|volume=535|issue=7612|pages=425–429|doi=10.1038/nature18626|pmid=27409813|pmc=4961620|bibcode=2016Natur.535..425F }} This expands upon his work as a graduate student, when he discovered that mice lacking T-cells had cognitive impairments.{{cite journal|title=T cell deficiency leads to cognitive dysfunction: Implications for therapeutic vaccination for schizophrenia and other psychiatric conditions|first1=Jonathan|last1=Kipnis|first2=Hagit|last2=Cohen|first3=Michal|last3=Cardon|first4=Yaniv|last4=Ziv|first5=Michal|last5=Schwartz|date=25 May 2004|journal=PNAS|volume=101|issue=21|pages=8180–8185|doi=10.1073/pnas.0402268101|pmid=15141078|pmc=419577|bibcode=2004PNAS..101.8180K |doi-access=free}}

His lab also elucidated the role of meningeal gamma delta (γδ) T cells in anxiety behavior,.{{Cite journal|last1=Alves de Lima|first1=Kalil|last2=Rustenhoven|first2=Justin|last3=Da Mesquita|first3=Sandro|last4=Wall|first4=Morgan|last5=Salvador|first5=Andrea Francesca|last6=Smirnov|first6=Igor|last7=Martelossi Cebinelli|first7=Guilherme|last8=Mamuladze|first8=Tornike|last9=Baker|first9=Wendy|last10=Papadopoulos|first10=Zach|last11=Lopes|first11=Maria Beatriz|date=November 2020|title=Meningeal γδ T cells regulate anxiety-like behavior via IL-17a signaling in neurons|journal=Nature Immunology|language=en|volume=21|issue=11|pages=1421–1429|doi=10.1038/s41590-020-0776-4 |pmc=8496952 |pmid=32929273|s2cid=221723200|issn=1529-2916}}{{Cite web|date=2020-09-16|title=Immune Cell Signaling to the Brain Regulates Anxiety-Like Behaviors|url=https://www.genengnews.com/news/immune-cell-signalling-to-the-brain-regulates-anxiety-like-behaviors/|access-date=2021-01-03|website=GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News|language=en-US}} finding that γδ T cells are resident in high numbers in the meningeal immune compartment, and that they actively transcribe the cytokine IL-17a at homeostasis.{{Cite web|date=2020-09-23|title=Immune system may trigger anxiety in response to infection|url=https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/immune-system-may-trigger-anxiety-in-response-to-infection|access-date=2021-01-03|website=www.medicalnewstoday.com|language=en}} They further discovered that the release of IL-17a from γδ T cells was correlated with anxiety behavior in mice, finding high expression of IL-17a receptor in the prefrontal cortex glutamatergic neurons, and discovered that when they knocked down IL-17a receptor in cortical glutamatergic neurons, this recapitulated the anxiety phenotype in mice.{{Cite web|title=Immune Cell and Its Cytokine Control Exploratory Behavior in Mice|url=https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/immune-cell-and-its-cytokine-control-exploratory-behavior-in-mice-67930|access-date=2021-01-03|website=The Scientist Magazine®|language=en}}

He and his group in 2015 investigated CD4+ T-cells protection and repair of neurons after injury to the spinal cord and brain.{{cite journal|title=MHCII-independent CD4⁺ T cells protect injured CNS neurons via IL-4|first1=James T.|last1=Walsh|first2=Sven|last2=Hendrix|first3=Francesco|last3=Boato|first4=Igor|last4=Smirnov|first5=Jingjing|last5=Zheng|first6=John R.|last6=Lukens|first7=Sachin|last7=Gadani|first8=Daniel|last8=Hechler|first9=Greta|last9=Gölz|first10=Karen|last10=Rosenberger|first11=Thomas|last11=Kammertöns|first12=Johannes|last12=Vogt|first13=Christina|last13=Vogelaar|first14=Volker|last14=Siffrin|first15=Ali|last15=Radjavi|first16=Anthony|last16=Fernandez-Castaneda|first17=Alban|last17=Gaultier|first18=Ralf|last18=Gold|first19=Thirumala-Devi|last19=Kanneganti|first20=Robert|last20=Nitsch|first21=Frauke|last21=Zipp|first22=Jonathan|last22=Kipnis|date=2 February 2015|journal=J Clin Invest|volume=125|issue=2|pages=699–714|doi=10.1172/JCI76210|pmid=25607842|pmc=4319416}}

A collaboration with Kodi Ravichandran characterized the generation of neurons in adult brains and the removal of dead neurons by phagocytic cells.{{cite web|url=http://www.news-medical.net/news/20110810/Researchers-helps-explain-how-the-adult-brain-cleans-out-dead-brain-cells-and-produces-new-ones.aspx|title=Researchers helps explain how the adult brain cleans out dead brain cells and produces new ones|date=10 August 2011|accessdate=22 December 2016}}

In 2016, and his group identified type 2 innate lymphocytes in the meninges near the lymphatic vessels his lab previously discovered. These cells have previously have been found in the gut, which suggests a link between the brain and the microbiome.{{cite web|url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-12/uovh-udp121916.php|title=UVA discovers powerful defenders of the brain -- with big implications for disease|accessdate=22 December 2016}} In mice, these cells were activated by IL-33 after spinal cord injury.{{cite journal|title=Characterization of meningeal type 2 innate lymphocytes and their response to CNS injury|journal=The Journal of Experimental Medicine|volume=214|issue=2|first1=Sachin P.|last1=Gadani|first2=Igor|last2=Smirnov|first3=Ashtyn T.|last3=Smith|first4=Christopher C.|last4=Overall|first5=Jonathan|last5=Kipnis|date=16 December 2016|pages=285–296|doi=10.1084/jem.20161982|pmid=27994070|pmc=5294864}}

Kipnis' work has been funded by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative,{{cite web|url=https://sfari.org/author/?author=https%253A//id.simonsfoundation.org/jonathankipnis|title=SFARI|accessdate=22 December 2016}} National Institutes of Health, the Hartwell Foundation, and the Cure Alzheimer's Fund. In 2018, he was awarded the NIH's prestigious Director's Pioneer Award and $5.6 million in additional research funding.{{cite web |title=UVA researcher wins national award, funding |url=https://www.cbs19news.com/content/news/UVA-researcher-wins-national-award-funding-495081891.html |accessdate=4 October 2018 |language=en |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004123153/https://www.cbs19news.com/content/news/UVA-researcher-wins-national-award-funding-495081891.html |archive-date=2018-10-04}}

• 2011 Robert Ader New Investigator Award
• 2011 PsychoNeuroImmunology Research Society (PNIRS)
• 2012 Jordi Folch-Pi award, American Society for Neurochemistry
• 2014 Distinguished Research Career Development Award, University of Virginia
• 2015 Gutenberg Research College (GRC) fellowship, Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz
• 2016 Harrison Foundation Distinguished Teaching Professorship in Neuroscience
• 2016 MIND Institute Distinguished Lecturer.{{cite web|date=January 13, 2016|url=http://media.mindinstitute.org/video/graphics/dls/2016/kipnis_bioabstract.pdf|access-date=2020-01-15|title=Archived copy|archive-date=2016-12-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220150541/http://media.mindinstitute.org/video/graphics/dls/2016/kipnis_bioabstract.pdf|url-status=dead}}
• 2018 NIH Director's Pioneer Award {{Cite web|date=2018-10-02|title=UVA's Jonathan Kipnis Receives Prestigious NIH Director's Pioneer Award|url=https://news.virginia.edu/content/uvas-jonathan-kipnis-receives-prestigious-nih-directors-pioneer-award|access-date=2021-01-04|website=UVA Today|language=en}}
• 2020 NIH/NIA MERIT Award
• 2022 Member, National Academy of Medicine{{cite web |title=National Academy of Medicine Elects 100 New Members |url=https://nam.edu/national-academy-of-medicine-elects-100-new-members-2022/ |website=National Academy of Medicine |date=17 October 2022 |access-date=23 November 2022}}

Kipnis has drawn fire for discouraging a former graduate student from reporting allegations of sexual misconduct towards her supervising post-doctoral candidate, confirmed by screenshotted text messages, and did not report the incident to Title IX investigators, stating "You don’t need [an] investigation now, even though you will most probably win."{{Cite web |date=2023-01-24 |title='I'm just disgusted': How alleged sexual misconduct stole one student's passion for academic science |url=https://www.statnews.com/2023/01/24/alleged-sexual-misconduct-washington-university-stole-student-passion-academic-science/ |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=STAT News |language=en}} While initially covered by the Washington University student newspaper,{{Cite web |date=2022-12-07 |title=Alleged sexual misconduct and support system failures cause graduate student to drop her WU PhD degree - Student Life |url=https://www.studlife.com/scene/2022/12/06/support-system-failures-cause-graduate-student-to-drop-her-wu-phd-degree/ |access-date=2022-12-08 |website=Student Life - The independent newspaper of Washington University in St. Louis |language=en}} this incident was later corroborated in an independent investigation by Stat News. Emails with lab members shared with Stat News also revealed concerns about the Kipnis lab’s drinking culture, which were the subject of a university investigation. Per the Stat News report, there has been controversy about the university potentially mishandling the case, evidenced by a letter from the medical school dean describing Kipnis as supportive and prompt in his response and that failure to reach out to Title IX office was the result of incorrect advice from a program administrator as well as lax enforcement of Washington University School of Medicine's mandatory reporting system.

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