Matthew Young, PhD

Dr. Matthew J. Young received his BS and PhD degrees from the University of Manitoba. Dr. Young was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and joined the Southern Illinois University School of Medicine faculty in 2015. The Young laboratory uses a variety of human cell culture, bioenergetic, molecular biology, and fluorescence microscopy techniques to study human mitochondrial function. The mission of our laboratory is to understand the cellular mechanisms that cause mitochondrial dysfunction in human health and disease. The aims of this research include determining how genetic mitochondrial disease mutations, as well as toxicants and drugs, disrupt mitochondrial function. We are currently investigating the off-target effects of drugs on mitochondria using a cell line model of liver cells, HepaRG. Also, we study human mtDNA maintenance in endometrial carcinoma. Lastly, we are designing and characterizing cell line models of mitochondrial disease.