Matthew Kutys

Matthew Kutys is an Assistant Professor at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF), leading the Kutys Lab which bridges cell biology and engineering to study tissue morphogenesis in development, regeneration, and disease. His work focuses on molecular and mechanical mechanisms organizing human tissues using biomimetic models.

• Education:
  • Pennsylvania State University (BS, Bioengineering, 2009)
  • University of North Carolina Chapel Hill (PhD, Cell and Developmental Biology, 2014)
  • Boston University (Postdoctoral Fellow, Biomedical Engineering, 2020)

Research explores biochemical/mechanical signal coordination at cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesions across biological scales, with applications in breast cancer (Notch1 regulation), neurovascular development, and vascular transport barriers. Grants include multiple NIH awards (R35GM150987, R21AI176234, R00/R21CA226366).

Biomimetic 3D tissue models, microfluidics, and 'omic' technologies drive his interdisciplinary approach. Collaborative publications span topics like sarcomere assembly, lymphatic junctions, and computational modeling of collective cell behavior.

• Scientific Awards:
  • NIH Graduate Partnership Program (2010-2014)
  • Faculty of 1000 Associate Faculty Member (2011-present)
  • NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence (2013)
  • Hartwell Postdoctoral Fellowship (2018)
  • NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award (2018-present)

As Principal Investigator on multiple NIH grants, he develops innovative platforms to dissect multicellular behaviors previously accessible only in vivo, including ROCK/JAM-A complexes in lymphatics and computational modeling of tumor angiogenesis.