Rate My Professor Matthew Bettini

Matthew L. Bettini is a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology in the Department of Pathology, Division of Microbiology and Immunology, at the University of Utah School of Medicine. He holds a B.S. from Furman University, an M.S. from Georgia State University, a Ph.D. from Emory University, and completed postdoctoral training as a Research Fellow at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Bettini joined the University of Utah faculty in 2019 as an Associate Professor and has since been promoted to Professor. His career includes prior positions as Assistant Professor and Associate Professor, with research contributions stemming from affiliations such as Baylor College of Medicine. He is actively involved in graduate education through the Bioscience PhD Programs, particularly the Molecular Biology Program, where he teaches courses like Essentials of Pharmacology and Drug Development. Bettini serves on the Pathology Graduate Program Executive Committee and was appointed Director of Postdoctoral Studies in the Microbiology and Immunology Division.

Bettini's research centers on mechanisms of central tolerance to self and extended-self antigens, including neonatal tolerance to organ-specific antigens and microbiota. Key areas include the role of antigen-presenting cells in thymic deletion of autoreactive T cells and regulatory T cell development, the impact of early microflora exposure on thymocyte development and its relation to Type 1 Diabetes, and optimization of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell signaling and function through manipulation of immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motifs (ITAMs). Notable publications include "Thymic development of gut-microbiota-specific T cells" in Nature (2021, co-corresponding author), "A Critical Insulin TCR Contact Residue Selects High-Affinity and Pathogenic Insulin-Specific T Cells" in Diabetes (2020), "Function, Failure, and the Future Potential of Tregs in Type 1 Diabetes" in Diabetes (2021), and "Antibody-Mediated Targeting of a Hybrid-Insulin-Peptide Towards Neonatal Thymic Langerin+ Cells Enhances T Cell Central Tolerance and Delays Autoimmune Diabetes" in Diabetes (2022). He received the John Weis Award for Excellence in Experimental Pathology.