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Marco Gallus, MD, MS

Postdoctoral Scholar

Dr. Gallus, MD, MS is a neurosurgery resident and a postdoctoral fellow of the German Research Foundation (DFG). He pursued his medical studies at the University of Muenster, Germany, with enriching experiences abroad in Japan and Switzerland. Concurrently, Dr. Gallus successfully completed a 5-year master’s program in experimental medicine, receiving comprehensive training at the Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine in Muenster and the Department of Neuropathology at the University Hospital Muenster.

Dr. Gallus attained graduation at the Institute of Translational Neurology within the University Hospital Muenster, Germany, under the supervision of Dr. Sven Meuth, MD, PhD, and Dr. Nico Melzer, MD, focusing on investigating the pathophysiology of brain autoimmunity. His research led to the discovery of antigen-specific cytotoxic T cells as mediators of autoimmune limbic encephalitis (ALE) associated with temporal lobe epilepsy. Additionally, he was able to characterize the translocator protein (TSPO) as a novel translational and non-invasive biomarker for innate immunity in cytotoxic T cell mediated limbic encephalitis.

Prior to commencing his residency program, Dr. Gallus served as a neurosurgery intern under supervision of Dr. Andreas Raabe, MD at Inselspital Bern, Switzerland. During his residency at the University Hospital Muenster under the guidance and support of Dr. Walter Stummer, MD, his primary interest then revolved around the treatment of brain and spine tumor patients.

Here at UCSF, Dr. Gallus investigates novel innovative technologies such as low-intensity pulsed focused ultrasound as potential tool to enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy for glioma.

Beyond his research Dr. Gallus is an active member of the Young Neurooncological Workgroup of the German Cancer Society (DKG), the European Association of Neurosurgical Societies (EANS), the European Association of Neuro-Oncology (EANO), the German Network for Research on Autoimmune Encephalitis and he supports the international Student Association for Neurosurgery, Neurology and Neurosciences Connectome.

Dr. Gallus was awarded funding from the Hertie Foundation, the German Business Foundation (SDW), the European Committee For Treatment And Research In Multiple Sclerosis as well as the German Research Foundation.

In his free time, Dr. Gallus enjoys swimming, running, playing piano and traveling.

Featured Publications

Chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapy in patients with malignant glioma-From neuroimmunology to clinical trial design considerations.

Gallus M, Young JS, Cook Quackenbush S, Khasraw M, de Groot J, Okada H.
Neuro Oncol. 2024 Oct 24:noae203. doi: 10.1093/neuonc/noae203. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39450490.

Current and Future Roles of Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-Cell Therapy in Neurology.

Ismail FS, Gallus M, Meuth SG, Okada H, Hartung HP, Melzer N.
JAMA Neurology. 2024 in press.

Multidisciplinary Management of Isocitrate Dehydrogenase-Mutated Gliomas in a Contemporary Molecularly Defined Era.

Kotecha R, Schiff D, Chakravarti A, Fleming JL, Brown PD, Puduvalli VK, Vogelbaum MA, Gondi V, Gallus M, Okada H, Mehta MP.
J Clin Oncol. 2024 Jul 20;42(21):2588-2598. doi: 10.1200/JCO.23.02195. Epub 2024 Jun 4. PMID: 38833641; PMCID: PMC11283772.

Flow cytometry identifies changes in peripheral and intrathecal lymphocyte patterns in CNS autoimmune disorders and primary CNS malignancies.

Räuber S, Schulte-Mecklenbeck A, Willison A, Hagler R, Jonas M, Pul D, Masanneck L, Schroeter CB, Golombeck KS, Lichtenberg S, Strippel C, Gallus M, Dik A, Kerkhoff R, Barman S, Weber KJ, Kovac S, Korsen M, Pawlitzki M, Goebels N, Ruck T, Gross CC, Paulus W, Reifenberger G, Hanke M, Grauer O, Rapp M, Sabel M, Wiendl H, Meuth SG, Melzer N.
J Neuroinflammation. 2024 Nov 4;21(1):286. doi: 10.1186/s12974-024-03269-3. PMID: 39497174; PMCID: PMC11536547.

Ultrasound frequency-controlled microbubble dynamics in brain vessels regulate the enrichment of inflammatory pathways in the blood-brain barrier.

Guo Y, Lee H, Kim C, Park C, Yamamichi A, Chuntova P, Gallus M, Bernabeu MO, Okada H, Jo H, Arvanitis C.
Nat Commun. 2024 Sep 13;15(1):8021. doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-52329-y. PMID: 39271721; PMCID: PMC11399249.

Challenges in the discovery of tumor-specific alternative splicing-derived cell-surface antigens in glioma.

Nejo T, Wang L, Leung KK, Wang A, Lakshmanachetty S, Gallus M, Kwok DW, Hong C, Chen LH, Carrera DA, Zhang MY, Stevers NO, Maldonado GC, Yamamichi A, Watchmaker PB, Naik A, Shai A, Phillips JJ, Chang SM, Wiita AP, Wells JA, Costello JF, Diaz AA, Okada H.
Sci Rep. 2024 Mar 16;14(1):6362. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-56684-0. PMID: 38493204; PMCID: PMC10944514.

Immunotherapy Approaches in Isocitrate-Dehydrogenase-Mutant Low-Grade Glioma.

Gallus M^#, Kwok D^# Lakshmanachetty S, Yamamichi A, Okada H.

Cancers. 2023; 15(14):3726. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15143726

Translational imaging of TSPO reveals pronounced innate inflammation in human and murine CD8 T cell-mediated limbic encephalitis.

Gallus M^#^, Roll W^#, Dik A^#, Barca C^#, Zinnhardt B, Hicking G, Mueller C, Naik VN, Anstötz M, Krämer J, Rolfes L, Wachsmuth L, Pitsch J, van Loo KMJ, Räuber S, Okada H, Wimberley C, Strippel C, Golombeck KS, Johnen A, Kovac S, Groß CC, Backhaus P, Seifert R, Lewerenz J, Surges R, Elger CE, Wiendl H, Ruck T, Becker AJ, Faber C, Jacobs AH, Bauer J, Meuth SG, Schäfers M, Melzer N.

Sci Adv. 2023 Jun 9;9(23):eabq7595. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abq7595.

A genome-wide association study in autoimmune neurological syndromes with anti-GAD65 autoantibodies

Christine Strippel, Marisol Herrera-Rivero, Mareike Wendorff, Anja K. Tietz, Frauke Degenhardt, Anika, Witten, Christina Schroeter, Christopher Nelke, Kristin S. Golombeck, Marie Madlener, Theodor Rüber, Leon Ernst, Attila Racz, Tobias Baumgartner, Guido Widman, Kathrin Doppler, Franziska Thaler, Kai Siebenbrodt, Andre Dik, Constanze Kerin, Saskia Räuber, Marco Gallus, Stjepana Kovac, Oliver M.Grauer, Alexander Grimm, Harald Prüss, Jonathan Wickel, Christian Geis, Jan Lewerenz, Norbert Goebels, Marius Ringelstein, Til Menge, Björn Tackenberg, Christoph Kellinghaus, Christian G. Bien, Andrea Kraft, Uwe Zettl, Fatme Seval Ismail, Ilya Ayzenberg, Christian Urbanek, Kurt-Wolfram Sühs,Simone C. Tauber, Sigrid Mues, Peter Körtvélyessy, Robert Markewitz, Asterios Paliantonis, Christian E.Elger, Rainer Surges, Claudia Sommer, Tania Kümpfel, Catharina C. Gross, Holger Lerche, Jörg Wellmer, Carlos M. Quesada, Florian Then Bergh, Klaus-Peter Wandinger, Albert J. Becker, Wolfram S. Kunz, Gerd Meyer zu Hörste, Michael P. Malter, Felix Rosenow, Heinz Wiendl, Gregor Kuhlenbäumer, Frank Leypoldt, Wolfgang Lieb, Andre Franke, Sven G. Meuth, Monika Stoll, Nico Melzer, the German Network for Research on Autoimmune Encephalitis (GENERATE).

Brain, 2022;, awac119, https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awac119

CD8⁺ T-Lymphocyte–Driven Limbic Encephalitis Results in Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.

Pitsch, J^#., van Loo, K.M.J^#., Gallus, M^#., Dik, A#., Kamalizade, D., Baumgart, A.-K., Gnatkovsky, V., Müller, J.A., Opitz, T., Hicking, G., Naik, V.N., Wachsmuth, L., Faber, C., Surges, R., Kurts, C., Schoch, S., Melzer, N. and Becker, A.J.

Ann Neurol. (2021) 89: 666-685. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.26000

Myelination- and immune-mediated MR-based brain network correlates.

Cerina M#, Muthuraman M#, Gallus M#, Koirala N, Dik A, Wachsmuth L, Hundehege P, Schiffler P, Tenberge JG, Fleischer V, Gonzalez-Escamilla G, Narayanan V, Krämer J, Faber C, Budde T, Groppa S, Meuth SG.

J Neuroinflammation. 2020 Jun 12;17(1):186. doi: 10.1186/s12974-020-01827-z.

# shared first-authors