Birgit Knoechel

Birgit Knoechel, MD, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Clinical Locations

Primary Children's Hospital

Bone Marrow Transplant
Salt Lake City
801-662-4700

  • Specialties

    Board Certification

    American Board of Pediatrics (Pediatrics)
    American Board of Pediatrics (Sub: Pediatric Hematology-Oncology)
    Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates

  • Board Certification and Academic Information

    Academic Departments Pediatrics -Primary
    Academic Divisions Hematology/Oncology
    Board Certification
    American Board of Pediatrics (Pediatrics)
    American Board of Pediatrics (Sub: Pediatric Hematology-Oncology)
    Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates

    Education history

    Fellowship Pediatric Hematology/Oncology - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston Children’s Hospital Clinical Fellow
    Pediatric Hematology/Oncology - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston Children’s Hospital Chief Fellow
    Fellowship Pediatric Hematology/Oncology - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston Children’s Hospital Clinical Fellow
    Cancer Epigenetics - Massachusetts General Hospital, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard Research Fellow
    Residency Pediatrics - University of California, San Francisco Resident
    Immunology - University of California, San Francisco Postgraduate Researcher
    Graduate Training Immunology - University of California, San Francisco Postdoctoral Scholar
    Immunology - Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg Ph.D.
    Professional Medical Medicine - Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg M.D.
    Medicine - University of Hamburg

    Selected Publications

    Journal Article

    1. Hernandez-Lopez P, Vijaykumar T, Anand P, Auclair D, Frede J, Knoechel B, Lohr JG (2024). Dual role of signaling pathways in myeloma requires cell-type specific targeting of ligand-receptor interactions. Blood Adv. (Read full article)
    2. Li L, Mohanty V, Dou J, Huang Y, Banerjee PP, Miao Q, Lohr JG, Vijaykumar T, Frede J, Knoechel B, Muniz-Feliciano L, Laskowski TJ, Liang S, Moyes JS, Nandivada V, Basar R, Kaplan M, Daher M, Liu E, Li Y, Acharya S, Lin P, Shanley M, Rafei H, Marin D, Mielke S, Champlin RE, Shpall EJ, Chen K, Rezvani K (2023). Loss of metabolic fitness drives tumor resistance after CAR-NK cell therapy and can be overcome by cytokine engineering. Sci Adv, 9(30), eadd6997. (Read full article)
    3. Im NG, Guillaumet-Adkins A, Wal M, Rogers AJ, Frede J, Havig CC, Yang J, Anand P, Stegmann SK, Waldschmidt JM, Sotudeh N, Niu L, Voisine J, Schweiger MR, Grassberger C, Lohr JG, Knoechel B (2021). Regulatory Programs of B-cell Activation and Germinal Center Reaction Allow B-ALL Escape from CD19 CAR T-cell Therapy. Cancer Immunol Res, 10(9), 1055-1068. (Read full article)
    4. Montanaro A, Kitara S, Cerretani E, Marchesini M, Rompietti C, Pagliaro L, Gherli A, Su A, Minchillo ML, Caputi M, Fioretzaki R, Lorusso B, Ross L, Alexe G, Masselli E, Marozzi M, Rizzi FMA, La Starza R, Mecucci C, Xiong Y, Jin J, Falco A, Knoechel B, Aversa F, Candini O, Quaini F, Sportoletti P, Stegmaier K, Roti G (2022). Identification of an Epi-metabolic dependency on EHMT2/G9a in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Cell Death Dis, 13(6), 551. (Read full article)
    5. Waldschmidt JM, Yee AJ, Vijaykumar T, Pinto RA, Frede J, Anand P, Bianchi G, Guo G, Potdar S, Seifer C, Nair MS, Kokkalis A, Kloeber JA, Shapiro S, Budano L, Mann M, Friedman R, Lipe B, Campagnaro E, ODonnell EK, Zhang CZ, Laubach JP, Munshi NC, Richardson PG, Anderson KC, Raje NS, Knoechel B, Lohr JG (2022). Cell-free DNA for the detection of emerging treatment failure in relapsed/ refractory multiple myeloma. Leukemia, 36(4), 1078-1087. (Read full article)
    6. Fishman H, Madiwale S, Geron I, Bari V, Van Loocke W, Kirschenbaum Y, Ganmore I, Kugler E, Rein-Gil A, Friedlander G, Schiby G, Birger Y, Strehl S, Soulier J, Knoechel B, Ferrando A, Noy-Lotan S, Nagler A, Mulloy JC, Van Vlierberghe P, Izraeli S (2020). ETV6-NCOA2 fusion induces T/myeloid mixed-phenotype leukemia through transformation of nonthymic hematopoietic progenitor cells. Blood, 139(3), 399-412. (Read full article)
    7. Waldschmidt JM, Kloeber JA, Anand P, Frede J, Kokkalis A, Dimitrova V, Potdar S, Nair MS, Vijaykumar T, Im NG, Guillaumet-Adkins A, Chopra N, Stuart H, Budano L, Sotudeh N, Guo G, Grassberger C, Yee AJ, Laubach JP, Richardson PG, Anderson KC, Raje NS, Knoechel B, Lohr JG (2021). Single-Cell Profiling Reveals Metabolic Reprogramming as a Resistance Mechanism in BRAF-Mutated Multiple Myeloma. Clin Cancer Res, 27(23), 6432-6444. (Read full article)
    8. Frede J, Anand P, Sotudeh N, Pinto RA, Nair MS, Stuart H, Yee AJ, Vijaykumar T, Waldschmidt JM, Potdar S, Kloeber JA, Kokkalis A, Dimitrova V, Mann M, Laubach JP, Richardson PG, Anderson KC, Raje NS, Knoechel B, Lohr JG (2021). Dynamic transcriptional reprogramming leads to immunotherapeutic vulnerabilities in myeloma. Nat Cell Biol, 23(11), 1199-1211. (Read full article)
    9. Anand P, Guillaumet-Adkins A, Dimitrova V, Yun H, Drier Y, Sotudeh N, Rogers A, Ouseph MM, Nair M, Potdar S, Isenhart R, Kloeber JA, Vijaykumar T, Niu L, Vincent T, Guo G, Frede J, Harris MH, Place AE, Silverman LB, Teachey DT, Lane AA, DeAngelo DJ, Aster JC, Bernstein BE, Lohr JG, Knoechel B (2019). Single-cell RNA-seq reveals developmental plasticity with coexisting oncogenic states and immune evasion programs in ETP-ALL. Blood, 137(18), 2463-2480. (Read full article)
    10. Aris IM, Bodaar K, Karim SA, Chonghaile TN, Hinze L, Burns MA, Pfirrmann M, Degar J, Landrigan JT, Balbach S, Peirs S, Menten B, Isenhart R, Stevenson KE, Neuberg DS, Devidas M, Loh ML, Hunger SP, Teachey DT, Rabin KR, Winter SS, Dunsmore KP, Wood BL, Silverman LB, Sallan SE, Van Vlierberghe P, Orkin SH, Knoechel B, Letai AG, Gutierrez A (2018). PRC2 loss induces chemoresistance by repressing apoptosis in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. J Exp Med, 215(12), 3094-3114. (Read full article)
    11. Mandelbaum J, Shestopalov IA, Henderson RE, Chau NG, Knoechel B, Wick MJ, Zon LI (2018). Zebrafish blastomere screen identifies retinoic acid suppression of MYB in adenoid cystic carcinoma. J Exp Med, 215(10), 2673-2685. (Read full article)
    12. Guo G, Raje NS, Seifer C, Kloeber J, Isenhart R, Ha G, Yee AJ, ODonnell EK, Tai YT, Richardson PG, Bianchi G, Laubach JP, Warren D, Gemme E, Voisine J, Frede J, Kokkalis A, Yun H, Dimitrova V, Vijaykumar T, Meyerson M, Munshi NC, Anderson KC, Knoechel B, Lohr JG (2018). Genomic discovery and clonal tracking in multiple myeloma by cell-free DNA sequencing. Leukemia, 32(8), 1838-1841. (Read full article)
    13. Ramaswamy K, Forbes L, Minuesa G, Gindin T, Brown F, Kharas MG, Krivtsov AV, Armstrong SA, Still E, de Stanchina E, Knoechel B, Koche R, Kentsis A (2018). Peptidomimetic blockade of MYB in acute myeloid leukemia. Nat Commun, 9(1), 110. (Read full article)
    14. Lohr JG, Kim S, Gould J, Knoechel B, Drier Y, Cotton MJ, Gray D, Birrer N, Wong B, Ha G, Zhang CZ, Guo G, Meyerson M, Yee AJ, Boehm JS, Raje N, Golub TR (2015). Genetic interrogation of circulating multiple myeloma cells at single-cell resolution. Sci Transl Med, 8(363), 363ra147. (Read full article)
    15. Drier Y, Cotton MJ, Williamson KE, Gillespie SM, Ryan RJ, Kluk MJ, Carey CD, Rodig SJ, Sholl LM, Afrogheh AH, Faquin WC, Queimado L, Qi J, Wick MJ, El-Naggar AK, Bradner JE, Moskaluk CA, Aster JC, Knoechel B, Bernstein BE (2016). An oncogenic MYB feedback loop drives alternate cell fates in adenoid cystic carcinoma. Nat Genet, 48(3), 265-72. (Read full article)
    16. Knoechel B, Aster JC (2015). Metabolic Mechanisms of Drug Resistance in Leukemia. Cell Metab, 22(5), 759-60. (Read full article)
    17. Knoechel B, Bhatt A, Pan L, Pedamallu CS, Severson E, Gutierrez A, Dorfman DM, Kuo FC, Kluk M, Kung AL, Zweidler-McKay P, Meyerson M, Blacklow SC, DeAngelo DJ, Aster JC (2016). Complete hematologic response of early T-cell progenitor acute lymphoblastic leukemia to the γ-secretase inhibitor BMS-906024: genetic and epigenetic findings in an outlier case. Cold Spring Harb Mol Case Stud, 1(1), a000539. (Read full article)
    18. Yashiro-Ohtani Y, Wang H, Zang C, Arnett KL, Bailis W, Ho Y, Knoechel B, Lanauze C, Louis L, Forsyth KS, Chen S, Chung Y, Schug J, Blobel GA, Liebhaber SA, Bernstein BE, Blacklow SC, Liu XS, Aster JC, Pear WS (2014). Long-range enhancer activity determines Myc sensitivity to Notch inhibitors in T cell leukemia. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 111(46), E4946-53. (Read full article)
    19. Riggi N, Knoechel B, Gillespie SM, Rheinbay E, Boulay G, Suv ML, Rossetti NE, Boonseng WE, Oksuz O, Cook EB, Formey A, Patel A, Gymrek M, Thapar V, Deshpande V, Ting DT, Hornicek FJ, Nielsen GP, Stamenkovic I, Aryee MJ, Bernstein BE, Rivera MN (2014). EWS-FLI1 utilizes divergent chromatin remodeling mechanisms to directly activate or repress enhancer elements in Ewing sarcoma. Cancer Cell, 26(5), 668-681. (Read full article)
    20. Stoeck A, Lejnine S, Truong A, Pan L, Wang H, Zang C, Yuan J, Ware C, MacLean J, Garrett-Engele PW, Kluk M, Laskey J, Haines BB, Moskaluk C, Zawel L, Fawell S, Gilliland G, Zhang T, Kremer BE, Knoechel B, Bernstein BE, Pear WS, Liu XS, Aster JC, Sathyanarayanan S (2014). Discovery of biomarkers predictive of GSI response in triple-negative breast cancer and adenoid cystic carcinoma. Cancer Discov, 4(10), 1154-67. (Read full article)
    21. Knoechel B, Roderick JE, Williamson KE, Zhu J, Lohr JG, Cotton MJ, Gillespie SM, Fernandez D, Ku M, Wang H, Piccioni F, Silver SJ, Jain M, Pearson D, Kluk MJ, Ott CJ, Shultz LD, Brehm MA, Greiner DL, Gutierrez A, Stegmaier K, Kung AL, Root DE, Bradner JE, Aster JC, Kelliher MA, Bernstein BE (2014). An epigenetic mechanism of resistance to targeted therapy in T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Nat Genet, 46(4), 364-70. (Read full article)
    22. Lohr JG, Stojanov P, Carter SL, Cruz-Gordillo P, Lawrence MS, Auclair D, Sougnez C, Knoechel B, Gould J, Saksena G, Cibulskis K, McKenna A, Chapman MA, Straussman R, Levy J, Perkins LM, Keats JJ, Schumacher SE, Rosenberg M, Multiple Myeloma Research Consortium, Getz G, Golub TR (2013). Widespread genetic heterogeneity in multiple myeloma: implications for targeted therapy. Cancer Cell, 25(1), 91-101. (Read full article)
    23. Kluk MJ, Ashworth T, Wang H, Knoechel B, Mason EF, Morgan EA, Dorfman D, Pinkus G, Weigert O, Hornick JL, Chirieac LR, Hirsch M, Oh DJ, South AP, Leigh IM, Pourreyron C, Cassidy AJ, Deangelo DJ, Weinstock DM, Krop IE, Dillon D, Brock JE, Lazar AJ, Peto M, Cho RJ, Stoeck A, Haines BB, Sathayanrayanan S, Rodig S, Aster JC (2013). Gauging NOTCH1 Activation in Cancer Using Immunohistochemistry. PLoS One, 8(6), e67306. (Read full article)
    24. Lohr JG, Stojanov P, Lawrence MS, Auclair D, Chapuy B, Sougnez C, Cruz-Gordillo P, Knoechel B, Asmann YW, Slager SL, Novak AJ, Dogan A, Ansell SM, Link BK, Zou L, Gould J, Saksena G, Stransky N, Rangel-Escareo C, Fernandez-Lopez JC, Hidalgo-Miranda A, Melendez-Zajgla J, Hernndez-Lemus E, Schwarz-Cruz y Celis A, Imaz-Rosshandler I, Ojesina AI, Jung J, Pedamallu CS, Lander ES, Habermann TM, Cerhan JR, Shipp MA, Getz G, Golub TR (2012). Discovery and prioritization of somatic mutations in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) by whole-exome sequencing. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 109(10), 3879-84. (Read full article)
    25. Barron L, Knoechel B, Lohr J, Abbas AK (2008). Cutting edge: contributions of apoptosis and anergy to systemic T cell tolerance. J Immunol, 180(5), 2762-6. (Read full article)
    26. Lohr J, Knoechel B, Wang JJ, Villarino AV, Abbas AK (2006). Role of IL-17 and regulatory T lymphocytes in a systemic autoimmune disease. J Exp Med, 203(13), 2785-91. (Read full article)
    27. Knoechel B, Lohr J, Zhu S, Wong L, Hu D, Ausubel L, Abbas AK (2006). Functional and molecular comparison of anergic and regulatory T lymphocytes. J Immunol, 176(11), 6473-83. (Read full article)
    28. Knoechel B, Lohr J, Kahn E, Bluestone JA, Abbas AK (2005). Sequential development of interleukin 2-dependent effector and regulatory T cells in response to endogenous systemic antigen. J Exp Med, 202(10), 1375-86. (Read full article)
    29. Knoechel B, Lohr J, Kahn E, Abbas AK (2005). The link between lymphocyte deficiency and autoimmunity: roles of endogenous T and B lymphocytes in tolerance. J Immunol, 175(1), 21-6. (Read full article)
    30. Abbas AK, Lohr J, Knoechel B, Nagabhushanam V (2004). T cell tolerance and autoimmunity. Autoimmun Rev, 3(7-8), 471-5. (Read full article)
    31. Lohr J, Knoechel B, Kahn EC, Abbas AK (2004). Role of B7 in T cell tolerance. J Immunol, 173(8), 5028-35. (Read full article)
    32. Dooms H, Kahn E, Knoechel B, Abbas AK (2004). IL-2 induces a competitive survival advantage in T lymphocytes. J Immunol, 172(10), 5973-9. (Read full article)
    33. Lohr J, Knoechel B, Jiang S, Sharpe AH, Abbas AK (2003). The inhibitory function of B7 costimulators in T cell responses to foreign and self-antigens. Nat Immunol, 4(7), 664-9. (Read full article)
    34. von Bernuth H, Knchel B, Winkler U, Roesler J, Schlesier M, Gahr M (2002). Immunodeficiency with recurrent panlymphocytopenia, impaired maturation of B lymphocytes, impaired interaction of T and B lymphocytes, and impaired integrity of epithelial tissue: a variant of idiopathic CD4+ T lymphocytopenia? Pediatr Allergy Immunol, 13(5), 381-4. (Read full article)
    35. Julius P, Luttmann W, Knoechel B, Kroegel C, Matthys H, Virchow JC Jr (1999). CD69 surface expression on human lung eosinophils after segmental allergen provocation. Eur Respir J, 13(6), 1253-9. (Read full article)
    36. Luttmann W, Knoechel B, Foerster M, Matthys H, Virchow JC Jr, Kroegel C (1996). Activation of human eosinophils by IL-13. Induction of CD69 surface antigen, its relationship to messenger RNA expression, and promotion of cellular viability. J Immunol, 157(4), 1678-83. (Read full article)
    37. Knchel B, Luttmann W, Kroegel C (1996). [Prevention of the development of immediate hypersensitivity and airway hyperresponsiveness following in vivo treatment with soluble IL-4 receptor]. Pneumologie, 50(8), 569-70. (Read full article)

    Review

    1. Waldschmidt JM, Vijaykumar T, Knoechel B, Lohr JG (2020). Tracking myeloma tumor DNA in peripheral blood. [Review]. Best Pract Res Clin Haematol, 33(1), 101146. (Read full article)
    2. Waldschmidt JM, Anand P, Knoechel B, Lohr JG (2018). Comprehensive characterization of circulating and bone marrow-derived multiple myeloma cells at minimal residual disease. [Review]. Semin Hematol, 55(1), 33-37. (Read full article)
    3. Knoechel B, Lohr JG (2013). Genomics of lymphoid malignancies reveal major activation pathways in lymphocytes. [Review]. J Autoimmun, 45, 15-23. (Read full article)
    4. Lohr J, Knoechel B, Caretto D, Abbas AK (2009). Balance of Th1 and Th17 effector and peripheral regulatory T cells. [Review]. Microbes Infect, 11(5), 589-93. (Read full article)
    5. Abbas AK, Lohr J, Knoechel B (2007). Balancing autoaggressive and protective T cell responses. [Review]. J Autoimmun, 28(2-3), 59-61. (Read full article)
    6. Lohr J, Knoechel B, Abbas AK (2006). Regulatory T cells in the periphery. [Review]. Immunol Rev, 212, 149-62. (Read full article)
    7. Lohr J, Knoechel B, Nagabhushanam V, Abbas AK (2005). T-cell tolerance and autoimmunity to systemic and tissue-restricted self-antigens. [Review]. Immunol Rev, 204, 116-27. (Read full article)