Raul A. Urrutia

Raul A. Urrutia, MD is a Professor in the Department of Surgery & Biochemistry and the Director of the Linda T. and John A. Mellowes Center for Genomic Sciences and Precision Medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin. He holds the Warren P. Knowles Endowed Chair of Genomics and Precision Medicine and directs the Pancreas Cancer Program. His research focuses on genomics, epigenomics, and precision medicine, particularly in pancreatic diseases such as cancer and diabetes. He has discovered key tumor suppressor genes and epigenetic pathways operational in pancreatic cancer and other diseases. His lab employs a multidisciplinary team of biochemists, geneticists, and bioinformaticians to advance precision medicine.

Education:

• MD, University of Cordoba
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, NIH

Research Interests: Dr. Urrutia’s work integrates genomic and epigenomic approaches to uncover mechanisms underlying pancreatic cancer, diabetes, and other diseases. His lab has made seminal contributions to understanding KLF proteins, histone-modifying enzymes (HDACs, HATs, HMTs), and histone-protein subcodes. Recent studies focus on epigenetic regulators in cancer progression and therapy resistance, mitochondrial genomic variants in transplantation outcomes, and precision medicine simulation models.

Publications Trends: Recent articles emphasize targeting epigenetic regulators (e.g., CBX5, EZH2), mitochondrial genomics in hematopoietic transplantation, and systems biology approaches combining germline/somatic mutations for tumor analysis. The work spans disciplines from molecular biology to clinical translation.

Awards:

• Warren P. Knowles Endowed Chair
• Member, American Society of Clinical Investigation

Advising & Grants: Dr. Urrutia has mentored over 50 investigators. His lab is funded by NCI grants, the CIBMTR Data Resource (U24), and philanthropic support like the Theodore W. Batterman Family Foundation. Research units include the Precision Medicine Simulation Unit and collaborations with global institutions.

Labs & Teams: Leads the Urrutia Research Laboratory and the Mellowes Center, collaborating with experts in epigenetics, computational biology, and clinical genomics. Key lab members include Angela J. Mathison, PhD (Technology Director) and Gareth Pollin, PhD (Bioinformatics).