Matthew Henry, Ph.D., is an associate professor of physiology & pharmacology at Des Moines University specializing in cellular pharmacology.
Henry first became involved with research as an undergraduate at Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI. At that time he worked on a project aimed at understanding the effects of microgravity conditions on blood vessel formation during development. Henry had the unique opportunity to collect tissue samples from quail eggs that were housed on the Mir Space station. Following his undergraduate education, Henry pursued interests involving the molecular and cellular events that control cellular proliferation. As a graduate student in the department of pharmacology at the University of Iowa, Henry studied the signal transduction pathways that controlled blood cell proliferation. Henry went on to study novel therapeutic strategies to disrupt leukemic cell growth as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology/Oncology. Currently, Henry continues with his research on cellular pharmacology and proliferation. In addition to these biomedical interests, Henry is actively pursuing several areas of medical education research.
Current projects
- Understanding the mechanisms by which HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors or statins impair cellular proliferation.
- Defining the potential antimicrobial effects of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors or statins.
- Assessment of common methods used to deliver undergraduate medical education materials.
- Assessment of the effects of pre-matriculation materials on student performance in the medical curriculum.
