Matthew W. VanBrocklin

Matthew W. VanBrocklin, PhD

Languages spoken: English

Academic Information

Departments Adjunct - Oncological Sciences , Primary - Surgery

Divisions: General Surgery

Lab

Matthew VanBrocklin, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Utah Hospital, an investigator at the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI), and a member of the Cell Response and Regulation program.

At HCI, VanBrocklin researches novel therapeutic targets and signal transduction pathways (networks inside a cell that transmit outside signals to influence cellular responses) that are important for increasing survival in melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and brain tumors. He also aims to develop novel small peptide-based agents directed at therapeutic targets that are currently considered "undruggable".

Before joining HCI, VanBrocklin was a researcher at the Nevada Cancer Institute, where he completed a postdoctoral fellowship, established his own lab, and became a member of the Drug Development Division. He received a PhD in biomedical science from Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Education History

Other Training Bay de Noc Community College
Undergraduate Western Michigan University
 BS
Graduate Training Mayo Graduate School
 MS
Doctoral Training Western Michigan University
 PhD
Postdoctoral Fellowship Nevada Cancer Institute
 Postdoctoral Fellow

Selected Publications

Journal Article

  1. Eisenmann KM, VanBrocklin MW, Staffend NA, Kitchen SM, Koo H (2003). Mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway-dependent tumor-specific survival signaling in melanoma cells through inactivation of the proapoptotic protein bad. Cancer research, 63(23), 8330-7. (Read full article)
  2. Orchekowski R, Hamelinck D, Li L, Gliwa E, vanBrocklin M, Marrero JA, Vande Woude GF, Feng Z, Brand R, Haab B (2005). Antibody microarray profiling reveals individual and combined serum proteins associated with pancreatic cancer. Cancer research, 65(23), 11193-202. (Read full article)
  3. Verhaegen M, Bauer JA, Martin de la Vega C, Wang G, Wolter KG, Brenner JC, Nikolovska-Coleska Z, Bengtson A, Nair R, Elder JT, Van Brocklin M, Carey TE, Bradford CR, Wang S, Soengas M (2006). A novel BH3 mimetic reveals a mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent mechanism of melanoma cell death controlled by p53 and reactive oxygen species. Cancer research, 66(23), 11348-59. (Read full article)
  4. VanBrocklin MW, Verhaegen M, Soengas MS, Holmen S (2009). Mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibition induces translocation of Bmf to promote apoptosis in melanoma. Cancer research, 69(5), 1985-94. (Read full article)
  5. VanBrocklin M, Ferris AL, Hughes SH, Federspiel M (1997). Expression of a murine leukemia virus Gag-Escherichia coli RNase HI fusion polyprotein significantly inhibits virus spread. Journal of virology, 71(4), 3312-8. (Read full article)
  6. Wilson CA, Wong S, VanBrocklin M, Federspiel M (2000). Extended analysis of the in vitro tropism of porcine endogenous retrovirus. Journal of virology, 74(1), 49-56. (Read full article)
  7. Melder DC, Pike GM, VanBrocklin MW, Federspiel M (2015). Model of the TVA receptor determinants required for efficient infection by subgroup A avian sarcoma and leukosis viruses. Journal of virology, 89(4), 2136-48. (Read full article)
  8. Whitwam T, Vanbrocklin MW, Russo ME, Haak PT, Bilgili D, Resau JH, Koo HM, Holmen S (2007). Differential oncogenic potential of activated RAS isoforms in melanocytes. Oncogene, 26(31), 4563-70. (Read full article)
  9. Robinson JP, VanBrocklin MW, Guilbeault AR, Signorelli DL, Brandner S, Holmen S (2010). Activated BRAF induces gliomas in mice when combined with Ink4a/Arf loss or Akt activation. Oncogene, 29(3), 335-44. (Read full article)
  10. Robinson JP, Vanbrocklin MW, Lastwika KJ, McKinney AJ, Brandner S, Holmen S (2011). Activated MEK cooperates with Ink4a/Arf loss or Akt activation to induce gliomas in vivo. Oncogene, 30(11), 1341-50. (Read full article)
  11. Yang H, Kircher DA, Kim KH, Grossmann AH, VanBrocklin MW, Holmen SL, Robinson J (2017). Activated MEK cooperates with Cdkn2a and Pten loss to promote the development and maintenance of melanoma. Oncogene, 36(27), 3842-3851. (Read full article)
  12. Shin CH, Robinson JP, Sonnen JA, Welker AE, Yu DX, VanBrocklin MW, Holmen S (2017). HBEGF promotes gliomagenesis in the context of Ink4a/Arf and Pten loss. Oncogene, 36(32), 4610-4618. (Read full article)
  13. Koo HM, VanBrocklin M, McWilliams MJ, Leppla SH, Duesbery NS, Vande Woude G (2002). Apoptosis and melanogenesis in human melanoma cells induced by anthrax lethal factor inactivation of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 99(5), 3052-7. (Read full article)
  14. Schaefer-Klein J, Givol I, Barsov EV, Whitcomb JM, VanBrocklin M, Foster DN, Federspiel MJ, Hughes S (1998). The EV-O-derived cell line DF-1 supports the efficient replication of avian leukosis-sarcoma viruses and vectors. Virology, 248(2), 305-11. (Read full article)
  15. VanBrocklin M, Federspiel M (2000). Capsid-targeted viral inactivation can eliminate the production of infectious murine leukemia virus in vitro. Virology, 267(1), 111-23. (Read full article)
  16. Chen M, Granger AJ, Vanbrocklin MW, Payne WS, Hunt H, Zhang H, Dodgson JB, Holmen S (2007). Inhibition of avian leukosis virus replication by vector-based RNA interference. Virology, 365(2), 464-72. (Read full article)
  17. Holmen SL, Vanbrocklin MW, Eversole RR, Stapleton SR, Ginsberg L (1995). Efficient lipid-mediated transfection of DNA into primary rat hepatocytes. In vitro cellular & developmental biology. Animal, 31(5), 347-51. (Read full article)
  18. Vanbrocklin MW, Robinson JP, Lastwika KJ, McKinney AJ, Gach HM, Holmen S (2012). Ink4a/Arf loss promotes tumor recurrence following Ras inhibition. Neuro-oncology, 14(1), 34-42. (Read full article)
  19. Melnik MK, Webb CP, Richardson PJ, Luttenton CR, Campbell AD, Monroe TJ, O'Rourke TJ, Yost KJ, Szczepanek CM, Bassett MR, Truszkowski KJ, Stein P, Van Brocklin MW, Davis AT, Bedolla G, Vande Woude GF, Koo H (2010). Phase II trial to evaluate gemcitabine and etoposide for locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic cancer. Molecular cancer therapeutics, 9(8), 2423-9. (Read full article)
  20. Vanbrocklin MW, Robinson JP, Whitwam T, Guilbeault AR, Koeman J, Swiatek PJ, Vande Woude GF, Khoury JD, Holmen S (2009). Met amplification and tumor progression in Cdkn2a-deficient melanocytes. Pigment cell & melanoma research, 22(4), 454-60. (Read full article)
  21. VanBrocklin MW, Robinson JP, Lastwika KJ, Khoury JD, Holmen S (2010). Targeted delivery of NRASQ61R and Cre-recombinase to post-natal melanocytes induces melanoma in Ink4a/Arflox/lox mice. Pigment cell & melanoma research, 23(4), 531-41. (Read full article)
  22. Robinson GL, Robinson JP, Lastwika KJ, Holmen SL, Vanbrocklin M (2013). Akt signaling accelerates tumor recurrence following ras inhibition in the context of ink4a/arf loss. Genes & cancer, 4(11-12), 476-85. (Read full article)
  23. Ray A, Williams MA, Meek SM, Bowen RC, Grossmann KF, Andtbacka RH, Bowles TL, Hyngstrom JR, Leachman SA, Grossman D, Bowen GM, Holmen SL, VanBrocklin MW, Suneja G, Khong H (2016). A phase I study of intratumoral ipilimumab and interleukin-2 in patients with advanced melanoma. Oncotarget, 7(39), 64390-64399. (Read full article)
  24. Cohen AL, Ray A, Van Brocklin MW, Burnett DM, Bowen RC, Dyess DL, Butler TW, Dumlao T, Khong H (2016). A Phase I trial of azacitidine and nanoparticle albumin bound paclitaxel in patients with advanced or metastatic solid tumors. Oncotarget,
  25. Robinson JP, Vanbrocklin MW, McKinney AJ, Gach HM, Holmen S (2011). Akt signaling is required for glioblastoma maintenance in vivo. American journal of cancer research, 1(2), 155-167. (Read full article)
  26. Cho JH, Robinson JP, Arave RA, Burnett WJ, Kircher DA, Chen G, Davies MA, Grossmann AH, VanBrocklin MW, McMahon M, Holmen S (2015). AKT1 Activation Promotes Development of Melanoma Metastases. Cell Reports. Cell reports, 13(5), 898-905.
  27. Wang PF, Kong D, Van Brocklin MW, Peng J, Zhang C, Potter SJ, Gao X, Teh BT, Zhang N, Williams BO, Holmen S (2005). Simplified method for the construction of gene targeting vectors for conditional gene inactivation in mice. 4(3), 215-218.
  28. Burnett WJ, Burnett DM, Parkman G, Ramstead A, Contreras N, Gravley W, Holmen SL, Williams MA, VanBrocklin M (2021). Prior Exposure to Coxsackievirus A21 Does Not Mitigate Oncolytic Therapeutic Efficacy. Cancers, 13(17), (Read full article)
  29. Varedi A, Rahman H, Kumar D, Catrow JL, Cox JE, Liu T, Florell SR, Boucher KM, Okwundu N, Burnett WJ, VanBrocklin MW, Grossman (2020). ASA Suppresses PGE2 in Plasma and Melanocytic Nevi of Human Subjects at Increased Risk for Melanoma. Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland), 13(1), (Read full article)
  30. Li J, Al Faruque H, Cortes-Sanchez E, VanBrocklin M, Hu-Lieskovan S, Cina M, Young A, Kope'ek J, Yang (2025). Polymer-based chemo-immunotherapy: Combining immunogenic cell death induction and PD-L1 blockade enhances antitumor immunity in melanoma. Journal of controlled release, 387, 114193. (Read full article)
  31. Chhibber T, Scherzer MT, Prokofyeva A, Becker C, Zitnay RG, Smith E, Khurana N, Skliar M, Deacon DC, VanBrocklin MW, Ghandehari H, Judson-Torres RL, Jafari (2024). Transdermal Delivery of Ultradeformable Cationic Liposomes Complexed with miR211-5p (UCL-211) Stabilizes BRAFV600E+ Melanocytic Nevi. bioRxiv, (Read full article)
  32. Chhibber T, Scherzer MT, Prokofyeva A, Becker C, Zitnay RG, Smith E, Khurana N, Skliar M, Deacon DC, VanBrocklin MW, Ghandehari H, Judson-Torres RL, Jafari (2025). Transdermal delivery of ultradeformable cationic liposomes complexed with miR211-5p (UCL-211) stabilizes BRAFV600E+ melanocytic nevi. Journal of controlled release, 381, 113586. (Read full article)
  33. Parkman GL, Turapov T, Kircher DA, Burnett WJ, Stehn CM, O'Toole K, Culver KM, Chadwick AT, Elmer RC, Flaherty R, Stanley KA, Foth M, Lum DH, Judson-Torres RL, Friend JE, VanBrocklin MW, McMahon M, Holmen S (2024). Genetic Silencing of AKT Induces Melanoma Cell Death via mTOR Suppression. Molecular cancer therapeutics, 23(3), 301-315. (Read full article)

Other

  1. McNeal AS, Belote RL, Zeng H, Urquijo M, Barker K, Torres R, Curtin M, Shain AH, Andtbacka RH, Holmen S, Lum DH, McCalmont TH, VanBrocklin MW, Grossman D, Wei ML, Lang UE, Judson-Torres R (2021). BRAFV600E induces reversible mitotic arrest in human melanocytes via microrna-mediated suppression of AURKB. eLife, 10, (Read full article)
  2. Rahman H, Kumar D, Liu T, Okwundu N, Lum D, Florell SR, Burd CE, Boucher KM, VanBrocklin MW, Grossman (2021). Aspirin Protects Melanocytes and Keratinocytes against UVB-Induced DNA Damage In Vivo. The Journal of investigative dermatology, 141(1), 132-141.e3. (Read full article)
  3. Grigore F, Yang H, Hanson ND, VanBrocklin MW, Sarver AL, Robinson J (2020). BRAF inhibition in melanoma is associated with the dysregulation of histone methylation and histone methyltransferases. Neoplasia (New York, N.Y.), 22(9), 376-389. (Read full article)
  4. Kircher DA, Trombetti KA, Silvis MR, Parkman GL, Fischer GM, Angel SN, Stehn CM, Strain SC, Grossmann AH, Duffy KL, Boucher KM, McMahon M, Davies MA, Mendoza MC, VanBrocklin MW, Holmen S (2019). AKT1E17K Activates Focal Adhesion Kinase and Promotes Melanoma Brain Metastasis. Molecular cancer research, 17(9), 1787-1800. (Read full article)
  5. Cho JH, Robinson JP, Arave RA, Burnett WJ, Kircher DA, Chen G, Davies MA, Grossmann AH, VanBrocklin MW, McMahon M, Holmen S (2015). AKT1 Activation Promotes Development of Melanoma Metastases. Cell reports, 13(5), 898-905. (Read full article)