T32 Integrative Cancer Scholars Program
Matthew Coope
Mentors: Gregory C. Rogers and Benjamin Lee
Matthew Coope became fascinated by cancer research the first time he imaged patient tissue samples.
“Why did some tissue seem healthy while just a hair’s breadth away were cells that would lead to this patient’s death?” Coope said. “I hope to shed light on this question in the coming years.”
Coope is in the cancer biology graduate interdisciplinary program for cancer biology. He has worked as a research technician with Gregory C. Rogers, PhD, for more than three years. Rogers is a U of A Cancer Center member in the Cancer Biology Program and a professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the University of Arizona and the BIO5 Institute.
At each stage of developing his bench skills, Coope has had support from Rogers or more senior students. “Now I appreciate that mentorship more than ever,” Coope said about working on his project. “I value discussing and interpreting exciting results, formulating hypotheses and new methods to test them, and troubleshooting failed experiments.”
Coope’s T32 research is on prostate epithelial organoids and the regulation of their organization.
“Prostate cancer is incredibly common, but rarely lethal,” Coope said. “Understanding the mechanism of how a slow disease progresses into an aggressive metastasis is my key interest. I hope my research will provide new tools to help clinicians decide between a ‘wait and watch’ approach and aggressive treatment.”
“I love contributing to the education and training of junior scientists,” Rogers said. “Watching them learn, succeed and grow into independent, confident scientists is very rewarding to me. Practically speaking, graduate students are the lifeblood of research at U of A. Without graduate students to perform the research, we would not be a top tier research institution.”