Porunelloor Mathew

Porunelloor Mathew is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Genetics at the University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC), affiliated with the College of Biomedical and Translational Sciences. He holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Poona and has contributed extensively to Cancer Immunology research. His work focuses on Natural Killer (NK) cell receptors, particularly their role in cancer recognition and immunotherapy development.

Education: BS in Physics (University of Kerala), MS and PhD in Biochemistry (University of Poona).

Research Interests: Pioneered studies on NK cell receptors (2B4, CS1, LLT1), identified FDA-approved anti-CS1 antibody (Empliciti) for multiple myeloma, and targets cancer stem cells. Current projects involve molecular characterization of NKp44 ligands and tumor-derived factors.

Grants & Collaborations: Active projects include NCI-funded studies on tumor-derived factors (2023-2025) and NIH/NINDS-funded research on astrocyte interactions (2017-2020). Co-investigator on multiple grants exploring NK cell immunotherapy for cancers like ALL and Ewing sarcoma.

Labs/Teams: Leads a lab investigating NK cell biology and cancer immunotherapies, collaborating with pediatric oncology and basic science teams.