Robert Dantzer

Robert Dantzer is a Professor in the Department of Symptom Research at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, with adjunct professorships at UT Health Science Center Houston (Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences) and Rice University. His work bridges psychoneuroimmunology and cancer-related symptomology, focusing on neuroimmune mechanisms of fatigue, pain, and depression. He co-founded the Neuroimmunology Laboratory to study cancer survivorship symptoms in animal models.

Education: DVM and PhD from French institutions, with early career work in veterinary pharmacology and stress physiology. Research emphasizes inflammation's impact on brain function, transitioning from basic psychobiology to clinical applications in oncology. Key contributions include unraveling cytokine effects on behavior and identifying molecular pathways (e.g., GDF15/GFRAL axis) driving chemotherapy-induced fatigue.

Recent publications (2023-2025) explore neuroimmune signaling in cancer-related fatigue, immunopsychiatry, and mechanistic links between inflammation and mental health. His lab investigates therapeutic targets for pain, cognitive impairment, and motivational deficits in cancer patients.