Inga Koneczny, DPhil
Academic curriculum vitae
Personal data
Name: Inga Koneczny, DPhil
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0567-021X
Address: Medical University of Vienna
Clinical Institute of Neurology
Waehringer Guertel 18-20
1090 Vienna, Austria
Websites: https://www.meduniwien.ac.at/web/index.php?id=688&res_id=392&name=Inga_Koneczny
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Inga_Koneczny
https://www.linkedin.com/in/inga-koneczny-6575a1a8/
Main areas of research: Myasthenia gravis, Neuroimmunology, IgG4 Autoimmunity
Contributions to science: Inga Koneczny made groundbreaking contributions to the field of Myasthenia gravis research and IgG4 autoimmunity. During her DPhil studies at the University of Oxford with Prof. Angela Vincent, FRS FRCPath, she was the first to unravel the pathogenic mechanisms of MuSK autoantibodies as a functional block of binding between MuSK and Lrp4, and demonstrated their pathogenicity in vitro. The work was published open-access at PloS One and reached the top 10% of most cited articles in 2017. In her postdoctoral work with Prof. Marc De Baets and Drs Pilar-Martinez-Martinez and Mario Losen, she was the first to discover that MuSK autoantibodies, which belong to the rare IgG4 subclass, are bispecific in vivo in the patient serum, and that bispecific autoantibodies and Fab fragments are pathogenic in vitro. In further projects she investigated the involvement of the thymus in Lrp4 MG, and the impact of long-term immunosuppression on IgG subclass distribution. She also contributed to reviews and wrote a book chapter for the Encyclopedia of Immunobiology. She was awarded three prestigious stipends from the Austrian science fund and the Austrian academy of sciences, two travel grants, one prize for the best conference poster and was invited speaker at several conferences.
Academic career
Sept 2018- | Project leader Clinical Institute of Neurology Vienna, Austria |
Nov 2016 – August 2018 | Post-Doctoral Position Clinical Institute of Neurology Vienna, Austria |
Oct 2014 – Oct 2016 | Post-Doctoral Position Maastricht University, MHeNS School for Mental Health and Neuroscience Maastricht, Netherlands |
Mar 2014 – Sep 2014 | Post-Doctoral Position Yale University, Department of Neurology New Haven, United States |
Education
Oct 2010 – Feb 2014 | University of Oxford DPhil, Clinical Neurosciences, United Kingdom |
Oct 2003 – Oct 2009 | University of Vienna Magister, Molecular Biology, Austria |
Academic recognition, prizes, awards
2019 | Invited speaker at the 14th Dresden Symposium on Autoantibodies |
2019 | Young Investigator Award for best oral presentation at the 5th International Congress on Controversies in Rheumatology and Autoimmunity in Florence |
2019 | Invited speaker at the 5th International Congress on Controversies in Rheumatology and Autoimmunity in Florence |
2018 | Selected speaker at the Autoimmunity Congress in Lisbon |
2017 | Travel grant to the 13th International Conference on Myasthenia gravis and related Diseases, New York |
2013 | Award: Best Poster at Myasthenia gravis conference Paris |
2013 | Eva Dresel conference travel award |
2013 | Selected speaker at the Muscle Study Group (MSG) Annual Meeting, Oxford. |
2001 | Heinrich Aldegrever Award for excellent performance at school |
Review activities and memberships in academic organization | |
Memberships in academic organizations | Dutch Society for Immunology |
New York Academy of Sciences | |
Austrian Neuroscience Association | |
Österreichische Gesellschaft für Allergologie und Immunologie | |
Invited open peer review | Phillips, W.D. and A. Vincent, Pathogenesis of myasthenia gravis: update on disease types, models, and mechanisms. F1000Res, 2016. 5. |
Peer review | Reviewing for PlosOne |
Most important research projects funded in | |
2018 | Hertha Firnberg project grant by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) “Biological Markers in Myasthenia gravis” project number T996-B-30. |
2014 | Scholarship: Erwin-Schrödinger Postdoctoral Fellowship by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), “What are the pathogenic mechanisms of MuSK-Myasthenia gravis?”- DPhil project at the University of Oxford, supervision by Angela Vincent, FRS FRCPath. Project number J 3545-B13. |
2011 | Scholarship: Doc fFORTE fellowship of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖADW) “What B cells are pathogenic in MuSK-Myasthenia gravis?” – Post-doctoral research project at Yale University/ Maastricht University and the Medical University of Vienna, mentored by Dr. Kevin O’Connor, Prof. Marc de Baets and Prof. Romana Höftberger |
Public outreach / Presss
2019 | Articles relating to our discovery of Lrp4 Myasthenia gravis in a patient with a new strain of Leptospirosis interrogans:
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2019 | Bezirkszeitung Wien, meinbezirk.at https://www.meinbezirk.at/wien/c-wirtschaft/ein-koerper-der-zum- |
2018 | MedUnique magazine and MUW website “Inga Koneczny awarded "Hertha Firnberg" scholarship by |
Publication list
List of all peer-reviewed published or accepted scholarly publications in the last 5 years
Year | Original research |
2019 | Tomschik, M.; Koneczny, I.; Schotta, A.M.; Scharer, S.; Smajlhodzic, M.; Rosenegger, P.F.; Bluthner, M.; Hoftberger, R.; Zimprich, F.; Stanek, G., et al. Severe Myasthenic Manifestation of Leptospirosis Associated with New Sequence Type of Leptospira interrogans. Emerging infectious diseases 2019, 25, 968-971, doi:10.3201/eid2505.181591. |
2018 | Koneczny I, Rennspiess D, Marcuse F, Hamid MA, Damas M, Maessen J, Van Schil P, Saxena A, Zisimopoulou P, Lazaridis K, Woodhall M, Karagiorgou K, Tzartos J, Tzartos S, De Baets MH, Molenaar PC, Marx A, Hausen AZ, Losen M, Martinez-Martinez P. “Characterization of the thymus in Lrp4 myasthenia gravis: Four cases.” Autoimmun Rev. 2018 Nov 8. pii: S1568-9972(18)30260-X. doi: 10.1016/j.autrev.2018.07.011. |
2017
| Koneczny, I., J. A. Stevens, A. De Rosa, S. Huda, M. G. Huijbers, A. Saxena, M. Maestri, K. Lazaridis, P. Zisimopoulou, S. Tzartos, J. Verschuuren, S. M. van der Maarel, P. van Damme, M. H. De Baets, P. C. Molenaar, A. Vincent, R. Ricciardi, P. Martinez-Martinez and M. Losen (2017). "IgG4 autoantibodies against muscle-specific kinase undergo Fab-arm exchange in myasthenia gravis patients." J Autoimmun 77: 104-115. |
Saxena, A., Stevens, J., Cetin, H., Koneczny, I., Webster, R., Lazaridis, K., Tzartos, S., Vrolix, K., Nogales-Gadea, G., Machiels, B., Molenaar, P.C., Damoiseaux, J., De Baets, M.H., Simon-Keller, K., Marx, A., Vincent, A., Losen, M., and Martinez-Martinez, P. (2017). Characterization of an anti-fetal AChR monoclonal antibody isolated from a myasthenia gravis patient. Sci Rep 7, 14426. | |
Rolf, L., A. H. Muris, A. Mathias, R. Du Pasquier, I. Koneczny, G. Disanto, J. Kuhle, S. Ramagopalan, J. Damoiseaux, J. Smolders and R. Hupperts (2017). "Exploring the effect of vitamin D3 supplementation on the anti-EBV antibody response in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis." Mult Scler: 1352458517722646. | |
Saxena, A., Stevens, J., Cetin, H., Koneczny, I., Webster, R., Lazaridis, K., Tzartos, S., Vrolix, K., Nogales-Gadea, G., Machiels, B., Molenaar, P.C., Damoiseaux, J., De Baets, M.H., Simon-Keller, K., Marx, A., Vincent, A., Losen, M., and Martinez-Martinez, P. (2017). Characterization of an anti-fetal AChR monoclonal antibody isolated from a myasthenia gravis patient. Sci Rep 7, 14426. | |
2015 | Koneczny, I., A. Schulenburg, X. Hudec, M. Knofler, K. Holzmann, G. Piazza, R. Reynolds, P. Valent and B. Marian (2014). "Autocrine fibroblast growth factor 18 signaling mediates Wnt-dependent stimulation of CD44-positive human colorectal adenoma cells." Mol Carcinog 54(9): 789-799. |
2014 | Huda, S., I. Koneczny, L. Jacobsen, D. Beeson and A. Vincent (2014). "SERONEGATIVE MYASTHENIA GRAVIS-CLINICAL/SEROLOGICAL ASPECTS." Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry 85(10): e4-e4. |
2013* | Koneczny, I., J. Cossins, P. Waters, D. Beeson and A. Vincent (2013). "MuSK Myasthenia Gravis IgG4 Disrupts the Interaction of LRP4 with MuSK but Both IgG4 and IgG1-3 Can Disperse Preformed Agrin-Independent AChR Clusters." PLoS One 8(11): e80695. *Top 10% of most cited articles of PloS One in 2017 |
2011 | Rohrl, C., U. Kaindl, I. Koneczny, X. Hudec, D. M. Baron, J. S. Konig and B. Marian (2011). "Peroxisome-proliferator-activated receptors gamma and beta/delta mediate vascular endothelial growth factor production in colorectal tumor cells." J Cancer Res Clin Oncol 137(1): 29-39. |
Year | Reviews |
2019 | Koneczny, I.; Herbst, R. Myasthenia Gravis: Pathogenic Effects of Autoantibodies on Neuromuscular Architecture. Cells 2019, 8, doi:10.3390/cells8070671. |
2018
| Ricken G, Schwaiger C, De Simoni D, Pichler V, Lang J, Glatter S, Macher S, Rommer PS, Scholze P, Kubista H, Koneczny I, Höftberger R., “Detection Methods for Autoantibodies in Suspected Autoimmune Encephalitis.”Front Neurol. 2018 Oct 10;9:841. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2018.00841. eCollection 2018. |
Vincent A, Huda S, Cao M, Cetin H, Koneczny I, Rodriguez-Cruz P, Jacobson L, Viegas S, Jacob S, Woodhall M, Nagaishi A, Maniaol A, Damato V, Leite MI, Cossins J, Webster R, Palace J, Beeson D. “Serological and experimental studies in different forms of myasthenia gravis.” Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2018 Feb;1413(1):143-153. doi: 10.1111/nyas.13592. Epub 2018 Jan 29. Review. | |
Koneczny, I., “A new classification system for IgG4 autoantibodies”. Front Immunol (Autoantibodies special issue). | |
2014 | Cossins, J., K. Belaya, K. Zoltowska, I. Koneczny, S. Maxwell, L. Jacobson, M. I. Leite, P. Waters, A. Vincent and D. Beeson (2012). "The search for new antigenic targets in myasthenia gravis." Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences 1275(1): 123-128. |
| Koneczny, I., J. Cossins and A. Vincent (2014). "The role of muscle-specific tyrosine kinase (MuSK) and mystery of MuSK myasthenia gravis." J Anat 224(1): 29-35. |
2012
| Vincent, A., P. Waters, M. I. Leite, L. Jacobson, I. Koneczny, J. Cossins and D. Beeson (2012). "Antibodies identified by cell-based assays in myasthenia gravis and associated diseases." Ann N Y Acad Sci 1274: 92-98. |
Research chapters in collective volumes | |
2016 | Koneczny I, Martinez-Martinez P, de Baets, M (2016). Myasthenia gravis. Encyclopedia of Immunobiology. M. J. H. Ratcliffe, Oxford: Academic Press. 5: 168-179. |
Conference proceedings | |
2019 | Koneczny, I, Update on IgG4 autoimmune diseases Dresden, 14th Dresden Symposium on Autoantibodies, 10-13 Sept 2019 *Invited speaker
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2019 | Koneczny, I, A new classification system for IgG4 autoantibodies Florence, Italy, 5th International Congress on Controversies in Rheumatology and Autoimmunity, 14-16 March 2019 *Selected speaker, Young Investigator Award |
2018 | Inga Koneczny, Jo A.A. Stevens, Anna De Rosa, Saif Huda, Maartje G. Huijbers, Abhishek Saxena, Michelangelo Maestri, Konstantinos Lazaridis, Paraskevi Zisimopoulou, Socrates Tzartos, Jan Verschuuren, Silvère M. van der Maarel, Philip van Damme, Marc H. De Baets, Peter C. Molenaar, Angela Vincent, Roberta Ricciardi, Pilar Martinez-Martinez, Mario Losen: IgG4 autoantibodies against muscle-specific kinase undergo Fab-arm exchange in myasthenia gravis patients Lisbon, 11th International Congress on Autoimmunity, 16-20 May 2018 *Selected speaker |
2017* | Inga Koneczny, Jo A.A. Stevens, Anna De Rosa, Saif Huda, Maartje G. Huijbers, Abhishek Saxena, Michelangelo Maestri, Konstantinos Lazaridis, Paraskevi Zisimopoulou, Socrates Tzartos, Jan Verschuuren, Silvère M. van der Maarel, Philip van Damme, Marc H. De Baets, Peter C. Molenaar, Angela Vincent, Roberta Ricciardi, Pilar Martinez-Martinez, Mario Losen: IgG4 autoantibodies against muscle-specific kinase undergo Fab-arm exchange in myasthenia gravis patients New York Academy of Sciences 2017 - 13th International Conference on Myasthenia Gravis and Related Disorders; 05/2017 *Award of a travel grant |
2015 | Koneczny, I., A. De Rosa, M. Maestri, J. verschuuren, M. G. Huijbers, P. Martinez-Martinez, M. De Baets, R. Riccardi and M. Losen (2015). Fab-arm exchange as a novel mechanism in myasthenia gravis with autoantibodies to muscle-specific kinase. 4th European Congress of Immunology (ECI), Vienna. |
2014 | Huda, S., I. Koneczny, L. Jacobsen, D. Beeson and A. Vincent "P45 Seronegative myasthenia gravis”2013; clinical and serological features." Neuromuscular Disorders 24: S19. |
2013* | Koneczny I, Cossins J, M. Leite, B. Lang, Beeson D and V. A (2013). POTENTIAL MECHANISMS IN MUSK-MYASTHENIA GRAVIS. Muscle Study Group (MSG) Annual Meeting, Oxford. *Invited Speaker |
2013* | Koneczny, I., J. Cossins, M. Leite, B. Lang, D. Beeson and A. Vincent (2013). Potential mechanisms in MUSK-Myasthenia Gravis. Myasthenia 2013, Paris. *Award for best poster *Eva Dresel conference travel award |