Matthew L. Meyerson, M.D., Ph.D.

Research

Our laboratory focuses on identifying and understanding the genomic alterations that cause human cancers, with a particular focus on lung cancer. Our three main research areas are: 1) Somatic gene alterations that cause cancer- we are applying genome-scale approaches to discover chromosomal alterations and cancer-causing mutations. We developed the use of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays to analyze loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and copy number alterations in human cancer samples, and have since discovered multiple regions of LOH and copy number change in human lung carcinomas. 2) Tumor suppressor proteins and chromatin modification- using a biochemical approach, we have identified the cellular function for menin, the protein product of the MEN1 (multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1) tumor suppressor gene. 3) Discovery of pathogenic microbes- we have developed a genomic approach to discover microbial sequences in cryptic infectious diseases. We are applying these methods to a variety of human cancers, including lung cancers of nonsmokers.