Timm Heinbokel

My work at the University of Notre Dame is principally supported through the John J. Reilly Center for Science, Technology, and Values. I received various additional travel grants and research grants that are listed in my CV.

During my clinical training in anatomic pathology I was a fellow of the clinician-scientist program run by the Berlin Institute of Health. My work at Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School was funded by a postdoctoral fellowship from the German Research Foundation (DFG). Prior to that, I received dissertation stipends from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and Charité Foundation.

In addition to degree distinctions, I received the 2017 Mentee-Mentor Award from The Transplantation Society for my research done under the direction of Stefan G. Tullius. In 2021, I was shortlisted for a Juniorprofessur in Translational Molecular Oncology at Charité Medical School, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Current projects

Monograph on Gregory of Nyssa's theological anthropology in relation to Platonic/Plotinian cosmology and literary theory
—under revision for publication
Paper on the philosophical sources and the historical influence of Abraham and Simon Flexner's reforms in medical education and medical research
—under revision for publication
Paper on the phenomenological account of empathy (Einfühlung or Fremderfahrung), in particular as articulated by Edith Stein and Max Scheler, and its contribution to clinical judgment
—manuscript completed
Paper on the relevance of Husserlian eidetic intuition to the philosophy of science, even if the former's foundational aspirations are given up
—manuscript completed
Booklong project on the phenomenological analysis of clinical judgment, with special attention to the roles of affective valuation (Wertnahme or "valueception") and empathy (Einfühlung or Fremderfahrung)
—in progress

Philosophy of science and medicine; Medical ethics

The Pragmatist Roots of Scientific Medicine: Reassessing the Flexner Report. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science. 2024; 106:186-195.
From Johann to Maurice: Science and Expression in the Philosophical Praxis of Medicine. Human Studies. 2021; 44:559-579.

Theological anthropology; Theology and science

Macrina’s Hippocratic Method: Science and Theology in Gregory of Nyssa’s De anima et resurrectione. Journal of Theological Studies 76:2 (2025; forthcoming).
Word as Work: A Plotinian Natural Philosophy in Gregory of Nyssa’s Apologia in Hexaemeron. Journal of Early Christian Studies 34:3 (2026, forthcoming).
The Phaedrus as therapeutic manual for Gregory of Nyssa’s De anima et resurrectione. Studia Patristica (accepted for publication, forthcoming)
Origen’s Christian Epistēmē in De Principiis: Exegesis as Ktisis. Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies. 2022;5(1):23-46.
Mimetic Perfection: St Gregory of Nyssa’s Poetry of the Self. St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly. 2020;64(3-4):97-128.

Book reviews

Drew Leder: The Healing Body: Creative Responses to Illness, Aging, and Affliction. Human Studies. 2024 (online first).

Experimental wet-lab projects in immunology (as first or co-first author)

Quante M, Iske J, Heinbokel T*, Desai B, Rodriguez H, Nian Y, Krenzien F, Matsunaga T, Uehara H, Pratschke J, Falk CS, Lo T, Sheu E, Tavakkoli A, Abdi R, Perkins D, Alegre ML, Banks AS, Zhou H, Elkhal A, Tullius SG. (*co-first author)
Restored Taurodeoxycholic Acid and Valine Levels Imitate the Effects of Bariatric Surgery.
eLife. 2021;10:e62928.
Heinbokel T*, Quante M, Iske J, Nian Y, Edtinger K, Maenosono R, Minami K, Liu Y, Azuma H, Elkhal A, Tullius SG. (*co-first author)
CTLA4-Ig prolongs graft survival specifically in young but not old recipients.
Am J Transplant. 2021;21(2):488-502.
Seyda M, Iske J, Heinbokel T*, Minami K, Nian Y, Maeonosono R, Minami K, Nian Y, Quante M, Falk CS, Azuma H, Martin F, Passos JF, Niemann CU, Tchkonia T, Kirkland JL, Elkhal A, Tullius SG. (*co-first author)
Senolytics prevent mt-DNA-induced inflammation and promote organ transplant survival.
Nat Commun. 2020;11(1):4289.
Quante M, Heinbokel T*, Edtinger K, Minami K, Uehara H, Nian Y, Azuma H, Abdi R, Elkhal A, Tullius SG. (*co-first author)
CD4+IFN-γ+IL-10+ regulatory type 1 cells facilitate prolongation of graft survival in old recipient mice treated with Rapamycin.
Transplantation. 2018;102(1):59-69.
Rodriguez H, Heinbokel T*, Uehara H, Camacho V, Koduru S, El Fatimy R, Ghiran I, Trachtenberg AJ, de la Fuente MA, Azuma H, Akbari O, Tullius SG, Vasudevan A, Elkhal A. (*co-first author)
Mast cells regulate CD4+ T cell differentiation in absence of antigen presentation.
J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2018;142(6):1894-1908.e7.
Krenzien, F, Quante M, Heinbokel T*, Seyda M, Minami K, Uehara H, Biefer HRC, Schuitenmaker JM, Gabardi S, Splith K, Schmelzle M, Petrides AK, Azuma H, Pratschke J, Li XC, Elkhal A, Tullius SG. (*co-first author)
Age-Dependent Metabolic and Immunosuppressive Effects of Tacrolimus.
Am J Transplant. 2017;17(5):1242–1254.
Oberhuber R, Heinbokel T*, Cetina Biefer HR, Boenisch O, Hock K, Bronson RT, Wilhelm MJ, Iwakura Y, Edtinger K, Uehara H, Quante M, Voskuil F, Krenzien F, Slegtenhorst B, Abdi R, Pratschke J, Elkhal A, Tullius SG. (*co-first author)
CD11c+ Dendritic Cells Accelerate the Rejection of Older Cardiac Transplants via Interleukin-17A.
Circulation. 2015;132(2):122-131.

Experimental wet-lab projects in immunology (as co-author)

Teske K, Erickson NA, Huck A, Dzamukova M, Fulde M, Heinbokel T, Horst D, Klymiuk N, Pastille E, Mekes-Adamczyk A, Löhning M, Gruber AD, Glauben R, Mundhenk L.
The impact of disease and species differences on the intestinal CLCA4 gene expression.
J Mol Med. 2025 (epub ahead of print).
Sanad AM, Qadri F, Popova E, Rodrigues AF, Heinbokel T, Quach S, Schulz A, Bachmann S, Kreutz R, Alenina N, Bader M.
Transgenic angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 overexpression in the rat vasculature protects kidneys from ageing-induced injury.
Kidney Int. 2023;104(2):293-304.
Nian Y, Iske J, Maenosono R, Minami K, Heinbokel T, Quante M, Liu Y, Azuma H, Yang J, Abdi R, Zhou H, Elkhal A, Tullius SG.
Targeting age-specific changes in CD4+ T cell metabolism ameliorates alloimmune responses and prolongs graft survival.
Aging Cell. 2021;20(2):e13299.
Elkhal A, Rodriguez H, Heinbokel T, Uehara H, Quante M, Seyda M, Schuitenmaker, JM, Krenzien F, Camacho V, de la Fuente MA, Ghiran Ionita, Tullius SG.
NAD+ regulates Treg cell fate and promotes allograft survival via a systemic IL-10 production that is CD4+ CD25+ Foxp3+ T cells independent.
Sci Rep. 2016; 6:22325.

Clinical research on ML-guided molecular analysis of kidney transplant biopsies

Sikosana MLN, Reeve J, Madill-Thomsen KS, Halloran PF, and the INTERCOMEX Investigators.
Using Regression Equations to Enhance Interpretation of Histology Lesions of Kidney Transplant Rejection.
Transplantation. 2024;108(2):445-454
Halloran P, Madill-Thomsen KS, Pon S, Sikosana MLN, Böhmig GA, Bromberg J, Einecke G, Eskandary F, Gupta G, Hidalgo LG, Myslak M, Viklicky O, Perkowska-Ptasinska A, and the INTERCOMEX Investigators.
Molecular diagnosis of ABMR with or without donor-specific antibody in kidney transplant biopsies: Differences in timing and intensity but similar mechanisms and outcomes.
Am J Transplant. 2022;22(8):1976-1991.
Madill-Thomsen KS, Böhmig GA, Bromberg J, Einecke G, Eskandary F, Gupta G, Hidalgo LG, Myslak M, Viklicky O, Perkowska-Ptasinska A, Halloran P, and the INTERCOMEX Investigators.
Donor-Specific Antibody Is Associated with Increased Expression of Rejection Transcripts in Renal Transplant Biopsies Classified as No Rejection.
J Am Soc Nephrol. 2021;32(11):2743-2758.
Halloran PF, Böhmig GA, Bromberg JS, Budde K, Gupta G, Einecke G, Eskandary F, Madill-Thomsen K, Reeve J, and the INTERCOMEX investigators.
Discovering novel injury features in kidney transplant biopsies associated with TCMR and donor aging.
Am J Transplant. 2021;21(5):1725-1739.
Einecke G, Reeve J, Gupta G, Böhmig G, Eskandary F, Bromberg J, Budde K, Halloran PF, and the INTERCOMEX investigators.
Factors associated with kidney graft survival in pure antibody-mediated rejection at the time of indication biopsy: Importance of parenchymal injury but not disease activity.
Am J Transplant. 2021;21(4):1391-1401.
Reeve J, Böhmig GA, Eskandary F, Einecke G, Gupta G, Madill-Thomsen K, Mackova M, Halloran PF, and the INTERCOMEX MMDx-Kidney Study Group.
Generating automated kidney transplant biopsy reports combining molecular measurements with ensembles of machine learning classifiers.
Am J Transplant. 2019;19:2719–2731.
Linneweber J, Heinbokel T, Christ T, Claus B, Kossagk K, Konertz W.
Clinical experience with the ATS 3F stentless aortic bioprosthesis: five years' follow up.
J Heart Valve Dis. 2010 Nov;19(6):772-7.

Reviews, correspondence

Heinbokel T, Elkhal A, Liu G, Edtinger K, Tullius SG.
Immunosenescence and organ transplantation.
Transplant Rev. 2013; 27(3): 65–75. IF 2013: 2.675
Heinbokel T*, Floerchinger B, Schmiderer A, Edtinger K, Liu G, Elkhal A, Tullius SG.(*co-first author)
Obesity and its impact on transplantation and alloimmunity.
Transplantation. 2013; 96(1): 10–6.
Heinbokel T, Hock K, Liu G, Edtinger K, Elkhal A, Tullius SG.
Impact of immunosenescence on transplant outcome.
Transpl Int. 2013; 26(3): 242–53.

Chapters in textbooks

Heinbokel T, Budde K, Halleck F, Liefeldt L.
Living Kidney Donation.
In Keller F (Ed.), Manuale nephrologicum. Dustri Publishing; 2017.
Oberhuber R, Heinbokel T, Khalpey Z, Malek S, Tullius SG.
Techniques for Organ Procurement after Brain Death.
In Kirk AD, Knechtle SJ, Larsen CP, Pearson TC (Eds.), Textbook of Organ Transplantation. John Wiley & Sons; 2014.
Oberhuber R, Liu G, Heinbokel T, Tullius SG.
Emerging issues in transplantation.
In Li X, Jevnikar T (Eds.), Textbook of Transplant Immunology. John Wiley & Sons; 2014.

Dissertations

Gregory's Macrina and Plato's Socrates: Text–Cosmos–Anthropos. Dissertation (Ph.D., Divinity — University of Aberdeen, 2024; sustained with no corrections). Advisor: John Behr; Internal Examiner: Tom Greggs; External Examiner: Andrew Louth.
Impact of immunosenescence and donor age on alloimmunity and transplant outcome. Dissertation (Dr. med. — Charité Medical School, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2015; summa cum laude). Advisor: Hans-Dieter Volk; External Examiners: Ingeborg A. Hauser, Stefan G. Tullius.

Manuscript refereeing

European Journal of Pharmacology (2024, 2025)
Computational and Structural Biotechnology (2025)
Transplant International (2023)

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