Christine Hsieh, PhD
Associate Professor
Medicine
School of Medicine

Dr. Christine Hsieh is a cellular neuroimmunologist focused on understanding mechanisms of inflammation that contribute to diseases with an urgent need for therapies, such as lupus, frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Her research has largely focused on the roles of innate immune receptors expressed by macrophages, microglia, B cells, and/or NK cells in disease, and how receptor activity can be modulated for therapy.

Awards

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• Innovation Award, Curia Biologics, 2022
• Career Development Award-2, VA Biomedical Laboratory Research & Development, 2011-2015
• NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award, NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 2007-2009
• B.S. with Magna Cum Laude Honors and College Honors, University of California, Los Angeles, 1999

Education & Training

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• Postdoctoral Fellowship Department of Medicine, Rheumatology Division University of California, San Francisco 2010
• Ph.D. School of Medicine, Immunology Program Stanford University 2006
• B.S. Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology University of California, Los Angeles 1999

Interests

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• monocyte
• neuroinflammation
• B cells
• immunology
• animal behavior studies
• autoimmunity
• macrophage
• innate immune receptors
• lupus
• Neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE)
• traumatic brain injury (TBI)
• innate immunity
• microglia
• antibodies
• frontotemporal dementia (FTD)
• single cell RNA seq
• flow cytometry

Websites

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• Hsieh Lab Website (hsiehlab.ucsf.edu)
• UCSF Division of Rheumatology at the VA (vamedicine.ucsf.edu)
• San Francisco VA Immunology Group (sfvaimmunology.ucsf.edu)

Grants and Projects

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• Neuroinflammation and vascular development in GMH, NIH NINDS, 2023-2028
• Collateral flow and stroke outcome, NIH, 2016-2025
• Analysis of a Type I Interferon Responsive Microglia Subset in Traumatic Brain Injury, Veterans Affairs Biomedical Laboratory Research & Development TBI Merit, 2020-2024
• Targeting CCR2 (CC Chemokine Receptor 2) to treat TBI, NIH, 2015-2024
• Inflammatory mechanisms in cerebral ischemia, NIH, 2019-2024
• Single Cell Analyses of Neuroimmune Dysfunctions in the Thalamocortical Circuit in FTLD, NIH, 2018-2023
• Shared Equipment Award for Leica Stellaris Confocal Microscope, VA, 2022-2023
• Stroke in females with metabolic syndrome, a vascular perspective, NIH, 2018-2023
• Immune Modulation and Cardiac Remodeling, NIH, 2016-2021
• Targeting Innate Immunity in Traumatic Brain Injury, Biogen, Industry Sponsored Research Project, 2018-2020
• ShEEP Request for a Replacement Cell Sorting Flow Cytometer for the Flow Cytometry Core Facility, NIH, 2019
• Immune Modulation and Myocardial Infarction in Arthritis, Rheumatology Research Foundation, 2015-2018
• The Role of CCR2 and Macrophages in Traumatic Brain Injury, VA BLR&D, 2011-2015
• The Role of Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells-2 (Trem2) on Microglia, NIH, 2007-2009
• , S Scott Panter Research Donation

Publications (21)

Top publication keywords:
Membrane GlycoproteinsArginaseTransplantation ImmunologyMacrophage ActivationMonocytesKiller Cells, NaturalPhagocytosisInterferon Regulatory Factor-7Receptors, ImmunologicMaze LearningMicrogliaReceptors, CCR2Brain Injuries, TraumaticMacrophagesBrain Injuries

• Progranulin Deficiency Promotes Circuit-Specific Synaptic Pruning by Microglia via Complement Activation.
  Cell 2016 Lui H, Zhang J, Makinson SR, Cahill MK, Kelley KW, Huang HY, Shang Y, Oldham MC, Martens LH, Gao F, Coppola G, Sloan SA, Hsieh CL, Kim CC, Bigio EH, Weintraub S, Mesulam MM, Rademakers R, Mackenzie IR…
• CCR2 deficiency impairs macrophage infiltration and improves cognitive function after traumatic brain injury.
  Journal of neurotrauma 2014 Hsieh CL, Niemi EC, Wang SH, Lee CC, Bingham D, Zhang J, Cozen ML, Charo I, Huang EJ, Liu J, Nakamura MC
• Traumatic brain injury induces macrophage subsets in the brain.
  European journal of immunology 2013 Hsieh CL, Kim CC, Ryba BE, Niemi EC, Bando JK, Locksley RM, Liu J, Nakamura MC, Seaman WE
• A role for TREM2 ligands in the phagocytosis of apoptotic neuronal cells by microglia.
  Journal of neurochemistry 2009 Hsieh CL, Koike M, Spusta SC, Niemi EC, Yenari M, Nakamura MC, Seaman WE
• CCR2 deficiency alters activation of microglia subsets in traumatic brain injury.
  Cell reports 2021 Somebang K, Rudolph J, Imhof I, Li L, Niemi EC, Shigenaga J, Tran H, Gill TM, Lo I, Zabel BA, Schmajuk G, Wipke BT, Gyoneva S, Jandreski L, Craft M, Benedetto G, Plowey ED, Charo I, Campbell J, Ye CJ,…

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• The effect of type 2 diabetes on CD36 expression and the uptake of oxLDL: Diabetes affects CD36 and oxLDL uptake.
  Experimental neurology 2020 Kanoke A, Nishijima Y, Ljungberg M, Omodaka S, Yang SY, Wong S, Rabiller G, Tominaga T, Hsieh CL, Liu J
• Age-related changes to macrophages are detrimental to fracture healing in mice.
  Aging cell 2020 Clark D, Brazina S, Yang F, Hu D, Hsieh CL, Niemi EC, Miclau T, Nakamura MC, Marcucio R
• Heterogeneity in HIV and cellular transcription profiles in cell line models of latent and productive infection: implications for HIV latency.
  Retrovirology 2019 Telwatte S, Morón-López S, Aran D, Kim P, Hsieh C, Joshi S, Montano M, Greene WC, Butte AJ, Wong JK, Yukl SA
• Galectin-3, a novel endogenous TREM2 ligand, detrimentally regulates inflammatory response in Alzheimer's disease.
  Acta neuropathologica 2019 Boza-Serrano A, Ruiz R, Sanchez-Varo R, García-Revilla J, Yang Y, Jimenez-Ferrer I, Paulus A, Wennström M, Vilalta A, Allendorf D, Davila JC, Stegmayr J, Jiménez S, Roca-Ceballos MA, Navarro-Garrido V…
• Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-2 expression in the brain is required for maximal phagocytic activity and improved neurological outcomes following experimental stroke.
  Journal of cerebral blood flow and metabolism : official journal of the International Society of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism 2018 Kurisu K, Zheng Z, Kim JY, Shi J, Kanoke A, Liu J, Hsieh CL, Yenari MA
• ADAM17 Is The Main Sheddase For The Generation Of Human Triggering Receptor Expressed In Myeloid Cells (hTREM2) Ectodomain And Cleaves TREM2 After Histidine 157.
  bioRxiv 2017 Dominik Feuerbach, Patrick Schindler, Carmen Barske, Stefanie Joller, Edwige Beng-Louka, Katie A. Worringer, Sravya Kommineni, Ajamete Kaykas, Daniel J. Ho, Chaoyang Ye, Karl Welzenbach, Gaelle Elain,…
• MicroRNA-383 located in frequently deleted chromosomal locus 8p22 regulates CD44 in prostate cancer.
  Oncogene 2016 Bucay N, Sekhon K, Yang T, Majid S, Shahryari V, Hsieh C, Mitsui Y, Deng G, Tabatabai ZL, Yamamura S, Calin GA, Dahiya R, Tanaka Y, Saini S
• Brain trauma elicits non-canonical macrophage activation states.
  Journal of neuroinflammation 2016 Kim CC, Nakamura MC, Hsieh CL
• Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 2 (TREM2) deficiency attenuates phagocytic activities of microglia and exacerbates ischemic damage in experimental stroke.
  The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 2015 Kawabori M, Kacimi R, Kauppinen T, Calosing C, Kim JY, Hsieh CL, Nakamura MC, Yenari MA
• Triggering Receptor Expressed on Myeloid Cells-2 Correlates to Hypothermic Neuroprotection in Ischemic Stroke.
  Therapeutic hypothermia and temperature management 2013 Kawabori M, Hokari M, Zheng Z, Kim JY, Calosing C, Hsieh CL, Nakamura MC, Yenari MA
• NKp30 is a functional activation receptor on a subset of rat natural killer cells.
  European journal of immunology 2006 Hsieh CL, Nagasaki K, Martinez OM, Krams SM
• IFN-gamma, produced by NK cells that infiltrate liver allografts early after transplantation, links the innate and adaptive immune responses.
  American journal of transplantation : official journal of the American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons 2005 Obara H, Nagasaki K, Hsieh CL, Ogura Y, Esquivel CO, Martinez OM, Krams SM
• Identification, cloning, and characterization of a novel rat natural killer receptor, RNKP30: a molecule expressed in liver allografts.
  Transplantation 2004 Hsieh CL, Ogura Y, Obara H, Ali UA, Rodriguez GM, Nepomuceno RR, Martinez OM, Krams SM
• Targeted gene replacement of a ferredoxin gene in Trichomonas vaginalis does not lead to metronidazole resistance.
  Molecular microbiology 2004 Land KM, Delgadillo-Correa MG, Tachezy J, Vanacova S, Hsieh CL, Sutak R, Johnson PJ
• Unprocessed Toxoplasma ROP1 is effectively targeted and secreted into the nascent parasitophorous vacuole.
  Molecular and biochemical parasitology 2002 Bradley PJ, Hsieh CL, Boothroyd JC
• NK cells and transplantation.
  Transplant immunology 2002 Hsieh CL, Obara H, Ogura Y, Martinez OM, Krams SM