Dr Matt Haren
NHMRC Research Fellow
Dr Matt Haren is an early career researcher who has had exemplary research training starting with a first class honours degree completed in 2001, successful completion of the core components of a Graduate Certificate in Public Health completed in 2002 and a PhD completed in 2005.
Dr Haren’s PhD thesis was titled “Endogenous serum testosterone in man: ageing, the metabolic syndrome, functional decline and the role of supplementation”. The thesis had three main components: (a) a cross-sectional study examining the relationship between different fractions of serum testosterone and physical, psycho-social and lifestyle variables, chronic disease and medication in men. The data were collected as part of the Florey Adelaide Male Ageing study, which Dr Haren helped initiate; (b) an RCT of testosterone replacement therapy for men age 60+ with low serum testosterone; and (c) cell culture work that contributed to the development of an in vitro bioassay for serum testosterone bioaction. His research training thus included a broad spectrum of areas ranging from laboratory-based research to public health and epidemiology.
In August 2004, prior to submission of his PhD thesis, he began working as a research assistant at Saint Louis University (SLU) School of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics and continued as a post-doctoral fellow at SLU until Dec 2006. During this time he worked on hypothesis generation, statistical analysis and manuscript writing using an established cohort of African-American men and women in St. Louis. This work focused on the associations between sex hormones, cytokines and physical and cognitive functioning and produced three manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals. The other major component of his work was investigating the mechanisms of muscle mass regulation in mouse models.
The major focus of this work was to determine the gene expression changes in skeletal muscle that occur as a result of testosterone withdrawal. This work required him to develop new skills in animal handling and experimental procedures and in molecular biology including state-of-the art microarray analysis. He was invited to present this work in a symposium at a world congress.
In particular, he has had articles published in the International Journal of Epidemiology (IF 4.51) and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (IF 6.603). In the last 5 years his work has been cited over 150 times from ISI indexed sources. He has also contributed to four book chapters.
Dr Haren has received a number of awards and distinctions for his achievements to date including an Endocrine Society of Australia Travel Award, an Australian Postgraduate Award, Chancellor’s Award List for Academic Achievement and Dean’s Merit Award for List for Academic Achievement.
Dr Haren is currently undertaking NHMRC funded research examining the relationship between metabolic syndrome (a precursor for diabetes) and respiratory problems, and their potential association through genetic polymorphisms, inflammatory biomarkers, and lifestyle factors. In particular, the project will be based on familial datasets. This work is at the forefront of research in this area.