Matthew Gill, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology & Development at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus. His research lab is part of the Institute on the Biology of Aging & Metabolism and the Medical Discovery Team on the Biology of Aging.
Genetic analysis in C. elegans has been at the forefront of many fundamental discoveries in biology and pioneering work from many labs on the genetic regulation of lifespan in worms has been instrumental in demonstrating that aging is a tractable process that can be targeted therapeutically. Moreover, signaling pathways that influence lifespan in simple organisms such as nematodes have a conserved function in regulating aging in other species. Dr. Gill’s expertise is in the genetic analysis of development and aging in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans.
His research program has focused on discovering novel signaling pathways and mechanisms through a combination of genetics, drug screening and biochemical approaches. This approach has led to the identification of candidate ligands for an orphan nuclear receptor, an endocannabinoid system in C. elegans and a novel truncated isoform of the nematode insulin receptor.