Matt Ringel
Matthew Ringel, MD is a professor and director of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes at The Ohio State University, where he also serves as co-leader of the Cancer Biology Program at the OSUCCC – James and holds the Ralph W. Kurtz Chair in Hormonology. Dr. Ringel focuses his research on molecular mechanisms involved in thyroid cancer invasion and metastasis, with an active interest in new drug testing for thyroid cancer therapy. Among his current research activities is serving as principal investigator (PI) for a National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant-funded study of the “Role of P21-Activated Kinases in Thyroid Cancer.” Dr. Ringel and colleagues have identified a potentially important pathway (p21 activated kinase, or PAK) downstream of the BRAF gene that may be involved in the progression of papillary thyroid cancer, which is incurable when metastatic and progressive. His team hopes to determine the relevance of the PAK pathway in vivo, clarify the mechanism by which it is activated and test novel compounds that block PAK activation with a goal of determining whether PAK is a viable therapeutic target. Dr. Ringel has also served as PI for a multimillion-dollar, NCI-funded program project grant (PPG) to study “Genetic and Signaling Pathways in Epithelial Thyroid Cancer” and for an NCI-funded Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant to help improve the lives of patients with thyroid cancer. Both grants entailed several interactive projects and multiple investigators at Ohio State and other academic institutions.