Matthew Gentry PhD

Dr. Gentry received his B.S. from the University of Evansville in 1996. He then studied cell cycle regulation via protein phosphatase 2A at Syracuse University in Dr. Richard Hallberg’s lab, receiving his Ph.D. in 2003. He was a postdoctoral fellow at UC-San Diego with Dr. Jack Dixon where he discovered glycogen and starch phosphatases and how they are integral for both human and plant energy metabolism.

He began his independent career in 2008 and he is currently a Professor in the College of Medicine at the University of Kentucky and Director of the Lafora Epilepsy Cure Initiative, an NIH-funded program. HIs lab focuses on the regulation of specific phosphatases and E3 ubiquitin ligases in both human glycogen and plant starch metabolism utilizing in vitro biochemical and structural techniques; in situ cell culture models; and in vivo mouse, algal and plant models. Dr. Gentry has been continuously funded by NINDS since 2006, he is an NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award recipient, he received the 2014 NIH Young Investigator IDeA Maciag Award and the 2018 NINDS Landis Award for Mentoring and Scientific Excellence. He is an NSF CAREER awardee, and PI of both a NINDS R01 and P01. He is a Journal of Biological Chemistry Editorial Board member and chair of the ASBMB Public Affairs Advisory Committee.