Email

mmatzuk@bcm.edu

Positions

Department Chair

Pathology and Immunology
Baylor College of Medicine

Stuart A. Wallace Chair, Robert L. Moody, Sr. Chair, and Professor

Pathology and Immunology
Baylor College of Medicine

Director

Center for Drug Discovery
Baylor College of Medicine

Director

Clinical Chemistry
Ben Taub Hospital

Professor

Molecular and Human Genetics
Baylor College of Medicine

Professor

Pharmacology and Chemical Biology
Baylor College of Medicine

Professor

Molecular and Cellular Biology
Baylor College of Medicine

Member

Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center
Baylor College of Medicine

Education

BA from University Of Chicago (with Honors)

06/1982 - Chicago, IL United States

PhD from Washington University

01/1989 - St. Louis, MO United States

MD from Washington University School Of Medicine

01/1989 - St. Louis, Missouri United States

Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Baylor College Of Medicine

01/1993 - Houston, Texas United States

Honors & Awards

Member of the National Academy of Sciences

04/2014

Member of The Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Science of Texas (TAMEST)

04/2014

Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors

12/2016

5th Int’l Fundacion IVI Award for Best Basic Research Record in Reproductive Medicine

04/2013

NIH MERIT Award

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (05/2001 - 04/2011)

Trainee Mentoring Award

The Society for the Study of Reproduction (07/2015)

Dr. Philip Needleman Prize for Excellence in Pharmacology Research

Washington University School of Medicine (05/1990)

John R. Rainey, M.D. Research Award

Texas Society of Pathology (02/1993)

Experimental Pathologist-in-Training Award

American Society for Investigative Pathology (04/1993)

The Michael E. DeBakey, M.D., Excellence in Research Award

Baylor College of Medicine (11/1995)

The Richard E. Weitzman Memorial Award

The Endocrine Society (06/1996)

The Bruce Stewart Memorial Lecture

American Society of Reproductive Medicine (04/1998)

The Inaugural Ernst Knobil Lecture

University of Pittsburgh (10/1998)

The HypoCCS Award

Eli Lilly (11/1999)

Pfizer Outstanding Investigator Award

American Society for Investigative Pathology (04/2002)

The Roy O. Greep Award

The Endocrine Society (06/2010)

Distinguished Alumnus Award

Baylor College of Medicine (03/2019)

Professional Interests

• Chemical biology and drug discovery
• Mammalian reproduction, germ cell biology, infertility, and contraception
• TGF-beta and cell signaling networks in female reproduction

Professional Statement

Reproductive and embryonic development are complex processes which require the coordinate interaction of multiple proteins. The overall research goals of my laboratory are directed at elucidating the critical proteins involved in both normal and abnormal reproductive development. These studies are focusing on both extragonadal regulators such as luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone and intragonadal regulators such as the inhibins, activins, bone morphogenetic proteins, and growth/differentiation factor 9 (GDF9). These latter proteins are members of the large TGF-β's superfamily of secreted growth factors and appear to play important roles in multiple tissues as endocrine, paracrine, and autocrine mediators during both embryonic and adult development.

To characterize the roles of these proteins in mammalian reproduction and development, we have taken a systematic approach to generate "knock-out" mice deficient in a number of these genes using gene targeting, embryonic stem (ES) cell, and CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Analysis of the mice generated in these "loss of function" experiments have revealed the critical roles of several of these proteins in mammalian reproduction, development, and oncogenesis. Initial studies to generate mice deficient in the inhibins have already demonstrated the power of this approach revealing that inhibin is a novel tumor suppressor with specificity for the gonads and the adrenal gland. Similarly, mice lacking GDF9 have defined it as the first oocyte-derived growth factor required for somatic cell function in vivo. Current studies using these transgenic mice as in vivo tools are enabling us to more fully understand the relationship of these proteins in reproduction and oncogenesis, and to develop small molecular contraceptives for targeting male germ cell-specific proteins.

Websites

Selected Publications

• Kiyozumi, D., Noda, T., Yamaguchi, R., Tobita, T., Matsumura, T., Shimada, K., Kodani, M., Kohda, T., Fujihara, Y., Ozawa, M., Yu, Z., Miklossy, G., Bohren, K., Horie, M., Okabe, M., Matzuk, M.M., and Ikawa, M. "NELL2-mediated lumicrine signaling through OVCH2 is required for male fertility." Science. 2020 Jun;368:1132-1135. Pubmed PMID: 32499443
• Dawadi, S., Simmons, N., Miklossy, G., Bohren, K.M., Faver, J.C., Ucisik, M.N., Nyshadham, P., Yu, Z., and Matzuk, M.M. "Discovery of potent thrombin inhibitors from a protease-focused DNA-encoded chemical library." Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2020 Jul;117(29):16782-16789. Pubmed PMID: 32641511
• Matzuk MM, McKeown MR, Filippakopoulos P, Li Q, Ma L, Agno JE, Lemieux ME, Picaud S, Yu RN, Qi J, Knapp S, Bradner JE "Small-molecule inhibition of BRDT for male contraception." Cell. 2012 Aug 17;150(4):673-84. Pubmed PMID: 22901802
• Matzuk MM and Lamb DJ "The biology of infertility: research advances and clinical challenges.." Nature Medicine. 2008 Nov;14(11):1197-1213. Pubmed PMID: 18989307