Rate My Professor Matthew Sikora

Matthew J. Sikora is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus. He received his BS in Genetics and Molecular Biology in 2006 and PhD in Pharmacology in 2011, both from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He completed postdoctoral training in breast cancer at the University of Pittsburgh in 2015. His career includes roles as Research Instructor in Pharmacology & Chemical Biology at the University of Pittsburgh from 2015 to 2016 and Adjunct Assistant Professor there from 2016 to 2018. Since 2016, he has been at the University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus, advancing from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor in Pathology. Sikora launched his laboratory in August 2016, focusing on steroid hormone signaling in hormone-dependent cancers, particularly invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) of the breast.

Sikora's research investigates estrogen receptor function, endocrine therapy response and resistance, and molecular mechanisms unique to ILC, including WNT4 signaling, DNA repair pathways such as MDC1, and cellular metabolism. He pioneered studies distinguishing ER-regulated transcription and de novo endocrine resistance in ILC models, developed long-term estrogen-deprived resistant cell lines, and identified WNT4 as an estrogen-controlled, non-canonical ligand driving growth and resistance. Additional work explores pharmacogenomics of tamoxifen response via CYP2D6 and partial estrogen agonists like 3betaAdiol in resistance. Key publications include 'WNT4 mediates estrogen receptor signaling and endocrine resistance in invasive lobular carcinoma cell lines' (Breast Cancer Res, 2016), 'Invasive lobular carcinoma cell lines are characterized by unique estrogen-mediated gene expression patterns and altered tamoxifen response' (Cancer Res, 2014), 'Altered MDC1 Interactions and Dysfunctional DNA Repair in Lobular Breast Cancer Confers Sensitivity to PARP Inhibition' (Cancer Res, 2026), and 'WNT4 Regulates Cellular Metabolism via Intracellular Activity at the Mitochondria in Breast and Gynecologic Cancers' (Cancer Res Commun, 2024). His honors include the Endocrine Society Early Investigator Award (2018), NCI K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award (2015), AACR-Susan G. Komen Scholar-in-Training Awards (2016, 2014), and Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program Postdoctoral Fellowship (2012). Sikora co-founded the Nuclear Receptor IMPACT peer mentoring group to support early-career scientists studying nuclear receptors.