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Michelle L . Matter , PhD , focuses her research on cancer metastasis . She studies ways to inhibit and understand how cells survive as they move throughout the body and develop new tumors at secondary sites . Matter describes her most exciting research discovery as the identifcation of a gene , PTRH2 , that blocks cell death . PTRH2 plays a role in human development and in cancer . In humans , loss of the gene causes muscle disease and deafness . In cancer patients , high levels of PTRH2 correlate with poor prognosis , increased metastasis and low overall survival .
MICHELLE L . MATTER
UH CANCER CENTER ASSOCIATE RESEARCHER
Cancer Biology Program
Matter said she is motivated to , “ translate the fndings in my lab into patient treatments . Understanding at the molecular level what drives cancer cells to metastasize will allow us to develop new therapeutics to block metastasis and ultimately save lives .”
Michelle L . Matter
“ I have always been interested in understanding how our cells and tissues function at the molecular level and how this goes wrong when people get sick .”
– MICHELLE L . MATTER
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