J. Matt Dubach, PhD
Instructor of Radiology
J. Matt Dubach, PhD is an Assistant Professor in Radiology at Harvard Medical School and faculty member in the i3 and the Center for Systems Biology. The Dubach lab focuses on innovative tools to make the unmeasurable in biomedicine measurable through various imaging modalities and sensor development. Dr. Dubach developed an optical approach to measure clinical drug target engagement with subcellular resolution in vivo using fluorescent drug analogs and polarized fluorescent two photon intravital microscopy. This approach enables his lab to probe the heterogeneity of drug distribution and target engagement in cancer and beyond while correlating fractional occupancy to drug efficacy in established and novel targets. His lab continues to develop innovative probes through leveraging advances in chemical biology, nanoscience, genomic engineering, imaging and, increasingly, image analysis.
Dr. Dubach received his BS in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University and a PhD in Bioengineering from Northeastern University. He then trained in molecular imaging as an NIH T32 postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Ralph Weissleder at the Center for Systems Biology at MGH. He subsequently received a pathway to independence award from the NCI to study the role of target engagement in breast cancer. Prior to his PhD, Dr. Dubach was a member of the technical staff in the biomedical engineering group at Draper Laboratory where he developed optical nanosensors for measurements of ions and small molecules in vitro and in vivo, winning the Draper distinguished performance award for his accomplishments. Dr. Dubach also cofounded the company Ionu Biosystems, serving as the principle investigator on a NASA funded project striving to develop space-capable diagnostics. As Associate Director for the i3, he specializes in regulatory affairs to secure FDA approval for i3 technologies and executes the vision of the i3. He has published over 20 peer reviewed papers and is co-inventor on 5 issued patents.