Matthew P. Anderson, MD, PhD, is co-Director of The Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre (‘OHC’), a partnership between the University of Oxford, UK and Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals, Cleveland, Ohio, aimed at driving cutting-edge rare disease breakthroughs. Dr. Anderson is also an Investigator, Harrington Discovery Institute and Professor, Department of Pathology at University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University.
Dr. Anderson brings a wealth of scientific and clinical research and translational medicine experiences to his role at the OHC from a distinguished career in academia and industry. Prior to joining the OHC, he served as Vice President of Research and Preclinical Development, and Head of the Neuroscience Therapeutic Focus Area leading a team of 45 scientists and physician drug developers at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Fortune 500 company. For many year, Dr. Anderson served as Chief of the Neuropathology Division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA), running a biomedical research program yielding breakthroughs in neurological, neuropsychiatric, and neurodevelopmental diseases including epilepsy and autism.
Dr. Anderson received MD and PhD degrees from the University of Iowa College of Medicine. For his PhD in Physiology and Biophysics, working under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Welsh, a preeminent physician scientist, Dr. Anderson produced seminal studies on the function of the CFTR chloride channel that is mutated in cystic fibrosis awarded the International Distinguished Dissertation Award (awarded every 5 years to the top science). These studies were foundational to the subsequent small molecule therapeutics that saved lives for individuals with Cystic Fibrosis. Subsequently, he completed postdoctoral research training at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), under the mentorship of Nobel Laureate Dr. Susumu Tonegawa developing expertise in mouse genetic engineering, brain circuit electrophysiology, and behavioral circuits studies that contributed our understanding of epilepsy and sleep regulation. Dr. Anderson uses these advanced genetic engineering and molecular biology technologies formerly at Harvard and now at the Harrington Discovery Institute/Oxford to study brain disease mechanisms and therapeutics.
To learn more about Matt Anderson's lab, click here.