Nora Heisterkamp, Ph.D.

626-218-5628
Nora Heisterkamp, Ph.D.
Research Professor, Department of Systems Biology
Research Area
  • Pediatric and Adult Hematological Malignancies
  • Tumor Microenvironment
  • Contribution of Glycosylation to Cancer Cell Survival
  • Noncancer and Cancer Cell-intrinsic Mechanisms of Drug Resistance
Nora Heisterkamp, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Systems Biology. Prior to joining City of Hope, she was professor of Pediatrics and Pathology at the University of Southern California in the Division of Hematology and Oncology at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.

Dr. Heisterkamp is a pioneer in cancer genetics and uncovered the molecular basis of the so-called “Philadelphia chromosome” (Ph), the first genetic lesion that was discovered as a cause of cancer in humans. After predoctoral training at the University of Groningen and the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Dr. Heisterkamp joined the lab of John Stephenson, initially in the Laboratory of Viral Carcinogenesis at the National Cancer Institute in Frederick, Maryland.
 
Together with John Groffen, Ph.D., Dr. Heisterkamp identified and molecularly cloned chromosomal translocation breakpoints of the Ph chromosome characteristic of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia. She cloned and named the breakpoint cluster region (BCR) gene and subsequently demonstrated that the BCR and ABL genes are rearranged in CML to form the BCR-ABL oncogene in Ph+ leukemias. The first BCR-ABL transgenic mouse model, generated by Dr. Heisterkamp, demonstrated that BCR-ABL is indeed the causative genetic lesion in Ph+ leukemias. In 2016, Drs. Heisterkamp and Groffen received the Janet Rowley Prize from the International CML Foundation for their outstanding lifetime contributions to the understanding of the biology of CML.

To identify new treatment targets and leukemia cell vulnerabilities, the lab currently investigates biomolecule modification by glycosylation in the context of the leukemia cell microenvironment. Glycosylation provides cells with the ability to produce an almost inconceivable number of different biomolecules including glycoproteins and glycolipids from a limited subset of genes. The posttranslational modification of proteins by glycosylation thus generates a highly complex glyco-code with high informational content that has yet to be even partly deciphered. However it is clear that glyocoproteins and glycolipids regulate a variety of cellular functions, in particular on the cell surface, and lectins, as a class of proteins with the ability to recognize specific carbohydrate structures, play an active role in regulating normal and malignant hematopoietic cells function and survival. 
 

Location

Education & Experience

Degrees

  • 1984, Ph.D. Medicine, University of Rotterdam
  • 1981, Drs. Genetics, University of Groningen
  • 1977, B.Sc., Biology, University of Groningen

Fellowship

  • 1981-1984, Visiting Fellow, Carcinogenesis Mechanisms and Control Section, Laboratory of Viral Carcinogenesis, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Frederick, MD

Professional Experience

  • 2017-present, Professor, Department of Systems Biology, Beckman Research Institute of City of Hope, Duarte, CA
  • 2000-2017, PI, Section of Molecular Carcinogenesis, Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1994-2017, Professor of Research Pediatrics and Pathology, Keck School of Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1994-1999, PI, Section of Molecular Carcinogenesis, Department of Pathology, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1989-1994, Associate Professor of Research, Pathology and Microbiology, University of Southern California. PI, Section of Molecular Diagnosis, Department of Pathology, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1987-1989, Visiting Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Microbiology, University of Southern California
  • Section of Molecular Genetics, Division of Medical Genetics, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
  • 1984-1987, Senior Scientist, Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Oncogene Science Inc., Mineola, NY

Awards & Memberships

Awards

  • 2016, Rowley Prize 2016 co-recipient with John Groffen, International CML Foundation for outstanding lifetime contributions to the understanding of the biology of CML

  • 1986, Inventor's Award of The United States Department of Commerce for the invention of "Deoxyribonucleic Acid Molecules Useful as Probes for Detecting Deleterious Genes incorporated into Chromosomal DNA"

Publications

  • Heisterkamp N, Stephenson JR, Groffen J, Hansen P, de Klein A, Bartram CR, Grosveld G. Localization of the c-abl oncogene adjacent to a translocation breakpoint in chronic myelocytic leukemia. Nature 306:239-242, 1983. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6316147
  • Heisterkamp N, Stam K, Groffen J, de Klein A, Grosveld G. Structural organization of the bcr gene and its role in the Ph' translocation. Nature 316:758-761, 1985. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2989703  
  • Heisterkamp N, Jenster G, ten Hoeve J, Zovich D, Pattengale PK, Groffen J. Acute leukemia in BCR/ABL transgenic mice. Nature 344:251-254, 1990. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2179728
  • Voncken JW, van Schaick H, Kaartinen V, Deemer K, Coates T, Landing B, Pattengale P, Dorseuil O, Bokoch GM, Groffen J, Heisterkamp N. Increased neutrophil respiratory burst in BCR null mutants. Cell 80:719-728, 1995. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7889565
  • Oliveira T,  Zhang M, Joo EJ, Abdel-Azim H,  Chen C-W, Yang L, Chou C-H, Qin X, Chen J, Alagesan K, Almeida A,  Jacob F, Packer NH, von Itzstein M, *Heisterkamp N, *Kolarich D. Glycoproteome remodeling in MLL-rearranged B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Theranostics 11(19): 9519-9537, 2021. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34646384
  • Tarighat SS, Fei F, Joo EJ, Abdel-Azim H, Yang L, Geng H, Bum-Erdene K, Grice DI, von Itzstein M, Blanchard H, Heisterkamp N. Overcoming microenvironment-mediated chemoprotection through stromal Galectin-3 inhibition in acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Int J Mol Sci, 22(22):12167, 2021. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34830047
  • Bum-Erdene K, Collins PM, Hugo MW, Tarighat SS, Fei F, Kishor C, Leffler H, Nilsson UJ, Groffen J, Grice DI, Heisterkamp N, Blanchard H. Novel selective galectin-3 antagonists are cytotoxic to acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. J. Med. Chem. 65, 5975-5989, 2022. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35427125

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