Michael Mathews Wins Research Award

In 1998, the University established a new program to recognize and support outstanding research achievement by faculty members. The award - given every two years - carries with it a $50,000 prize funded by the Foundation of UMDNJ. Michael B. Mathews, PhD, professor and chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School (NJMS), is the second individual in the history of
the University to receive this honor.

According to Michael Bassoff, President of the Foundation, the award was established to support and stimulate innovative, cutting- edge work by exceptionally creative, talented and promising faculty. The program committee established a rigorous peer review process involving scientists from other prestigious universities to review the proposals submitted for consideration. Eligible faculty members may already have been responsible for major advances in their field of study or may have developed a new paradigm to pursue a potential breakthrough in their research. The investigator must be committed to pursuing the work at UMDNJ.

Mathews was born in London and received his BA and PhD degrees in biochemistry from Cambridge University. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, he moved to the U.S. and worked first at the University of California at San Francisco, and then at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York for more than 20 years. He came to NJMS in 1996.

Throughout his career, Mathews has used viruses to probe the workings of human cells. His laboratory has focused on three systems that illustrate the diversity of regulatory processes in human cells and are directly or indirectly involved in human disease. Each of these systems involves viral genes that interact with and modulate cellular pathways, thereby impacting on processes such as cellular growth control and viral multiplication.

His research team is currently focusing on the RNA-activated protein kinase PKR, which Mathews says is emerging as a pivotal regulator of cell activity. He says that it was initially recognized as an inhibitor of translation and a key player in the interferon-mediated antiviral response, and is now implicated in the control of cell growth, signal transduction, differentiation, apoptosis, transformation and tumorigenesis. The team is investigating the biology and biochemistry of this enzyme and of proteins that interact with it.

The monetary grant will be used to further his study of PKR, this time its role in myotonic dystrophy, one of the most prevalent adult inherited muscle disorders. Those affected have a high risk of sudden death.

The first recipient of the Award for Outstanding Research Achievement was Masayori Inouye, PhD, chair of the Department of Biochemistry at UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He was recognized for his significant contribution to the understanding of how and why viruses grow, in particular retroviruses such as AIDS.