John Michael Carethers

Carethers' research demonstrated that cells with defective DNA mismatch repair (MMR), which occur in all Lynch-associated and ~20% of sporadic colon cancers, are insensitive to 5-fluorouracil standard therapy, changing clinical practice. He created tools to measure dynamic mutation of genes with defective MMR, including that for activin, TGFbeta and BMP receptors, and showed these are important regulators of cell growth. He demonstrated a novel mechanism for MMR inactivation - subcellular relocalization - to modify cell metastatic behavior. He was elected into ASCI, AAP and NAM, and has been recognized by the AGA and UCSD for mentoring excellence.