Brain Tumor Immunology & Therapy group
Developing a novel immunotherapy that can be tested in clinical trials for GBM patients in combination with standard treatment regimens to improve the quality of life and extend survival of GBM patients.
About the research group
The Brain Tumour Immunology & Therapy lab, led by Dr Martha Chekenya Enger, is one of 5 labs that are integral nodes of the larger, dynamic Translational Cancer and Vascular Research Unit based at the University of Bergen.
Our research programme focuses on translational and clinical glioblastoma (GBM) research, with an emphasis on the clinical, molecular and cellular mechanisms that drive tumour progression, immune evasion and treatment resistance. We investigate how distinct natural killer (NK) and T-cell subsets shape brain tumour immunity, identifying pathways that can be harnessed to overcome GBM’s profound immunosuppression. Over the past decades, our group has made seminal contributions to understanding the role of the glial-progenitor proteoglycan NG2/CSPG4 in GBM biology, revealing its critical impact on tumour growth, invasion, and therapy resistance. Building on these discoveries, we are pioneering next-generation cryo-EM–guided drug discovery pipelines to develop NG2/CSPG4-targeted inhibitors and additional molecular targets. Our clinical programme integrates these biological insights into patient-tailored treatment strategies.
We are leading phase IB/II clinical trials (https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT03643549 (external link)) evaluating synergistic drug combinations designed to render GBM more susceptible to standard therapy. In parallel, we develop artificial intelligence (AI)–based models to accurately delineate lesion volumes as decision support tool for treatment planning, and explainable multimodal AI models to predict treatment response at early stages. These models integrate molecular OMICs, MR-radiological, histopathological and clinical parameters to extract salient features from primary patient cohorts. The biomarkers are validated in larger independent biobanks and population datasets, enabling more precise patient stratification and personalised therapy.
Recent news
Featured
Publications
2023
2021
2019
Access Previous Publications
People
Group manager
Dr Martha Chekenya Enger Group leader
Group members
Mohummad Aminur Rahman Guest Researcher, Senior Researcher
Students
Marianne Hjellvik Hannisdal PhD candidate
Marianne van Oostveen Erasmus student BSc., University of Utecht
Elias Hovdenes MSc Student, Department of Informatics, NT faculty, UiB
Alumni
Victoria Arnesen PhD Research Fellow, defended 2023
Mia Kristin Sandnes Nilsen MSc
Maria Tennefos Sørbø MSc
Susina Suntharalingam MSc
Andrea Gras Navarro PhD student, defended 2019
Heleen Haspels Erasmus student
Marzieh Bahador MSc
Agnete Engelsen PhD student, defended 2013
Mev Dominguez Valentin Postdoc
Mateusz Zelkowski Leonardo da Vinci Programme trainee
Aurelie Poli PhD student
Justyna Kmiecik PhD student
Shahin Sarowar MSc student
Sharanga Varathalingam Med. student
Kristin Berg Kringstad Master student
Contact
For more information, contact the group leder Martha Enger
- Phone number
- Office phone: +47 55 58 63 80
- Emails
- martha.enger@uib.no