Geoff Girnun: Changing the Face of Healthcare

Geoff Girnun earned his BS and PhD from the University of Iowa. This was followed by a post doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He then started his own independent research lab at the University of Maryland where his research focused on the interface of metabolism and cancer. He then became a tenured faculty member, where he expanded his research until 2019. In addition to his academic research, Geoff Girnun has provided biomedical expertise to private and public organizations and consulted for small biotech and large pharmaceutical companies. He also advises investors and fund managers on early and late-stage biotechnology. However, Geoff Girnun’s biggest accomplishments are his contributions to biomedical research.

Geoff Girnun has conducted and published fundamental discoveries in cancer, metabolism, and metabolic disease and links between them. His research group was the first to directly demonstrate that metformin, a drug most well-known for its role in diabetes, is protective against liver cancer. Liver tumors were initiated in mice and then mice were administered either metformin or a control placebo. The mice taking metformin had significantly fewer and smaller tumors when compared to the ones in the control group. Researchers in Girnun’s group showed that metformin inhibited lipid synthesis in the livers of mice. Increased lipid synthesis is associated with increased tumor growth. Therefore, Girnun’s research suggests part of the mechanism responsible for the effect of metformin and as well as the use of metformin to prevent liver cancer in those at risk.

Geoff Girnun’s research has discovered other fundamental links between metabolism and cancer. People with type II diabetes are at increased of several different cancers. Geoff Girnun’s group discovered that one of the key proteins in diabetes, phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK), is involved in promoting colon cancer growth. PEPCK hijacks the cells metabolism to provide more biological building blocks for the cancer cell. Subsequent work from Girnun’s group demonstrated that they could use a drug to inhibit PEPCK, which led to reduced colon cancer cell growth. Geoff Girnun and his collaborations from around the country have published numerous other studies in the fields of diabetes, metabolism, and cancer.

When he is not working, Geoff Girnun enjoys spending time with his family and friends. He also enjoys reading, hiking, canoeing, and jogging. He has a wife and five children and lives on Long Island.

Caroline Hunter
Web Presence, LLC
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