Peter Ryan McHenry, PhD

• Associate Professor
• Director of Institutional Research
• Research Director

• Email: peter.mchenry@meu.edu.lb

I earned my BS in Biology from Union College (Lincoln, Nebraska, USA) and my PhD in Cell & Molecular Biology from the University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, Indiana, USA). I worked in the pharmaceutical industry in both manufacturing and R&D testing. My PhD work focused on the cellular mechanism of a natural product as a potential therapeutic against prostate cancer. I also completed a post-doc fellowship (Indiana University School of Medicine – South Bend) studying the role of p190B RhoGAP in mammary gland development and breast cancer, using transgenic mice and 3D cell culture models.
My current research interests include the role of RhoGAPs and TGF-beta in breast cancer progression. I also have a collaborative project investigating marker proteins of castration-resistant prostate cancer in patient tumor samples.
I have taught and advised biology students since 2011, at Southwestern Adventist University (Keene, Texas, USA) and now at Middle East University.

Publications:

    • (In Press) Integrating Faith and Learning in the Sciences

      Timothy Standish and Peter McHenry (anticipated 2023) The Handbook of Integration of Faith and Learning, Eds. Safary Wa-Mbaleka, Prema Gaikwad, and Shawna Vyhmeister.

    • Proteins Found in the Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Secretome and Their Therapeutic Potential

      Peter R. McHenry and Jenifer R. Prosperi (2023) International Journal of Molecular Science Jan 20;24(3):2100, doi: 10.3390/ijms24032100.

    • P190B RhoGAP regulates chromosome segregation in cancer cells

      Hwang M, Peddibhotla S, McHenry P, Chang P, Yochum Z, Park KU, Sears JC, Vargo-Gogola T (2012) Cancers (Basel). 4(2):475-489.

    • P190B RhoGAP has protumorigenic functions during MMTV-Neu mammary tumorigenesis and metastasis

      Peter McHenry, James Sears, Matthew Herrick, Brandy Heckman-Stoddard, Peggy Chang, Megan Rybarczyk, Edward Gunther, Lewis Chodosh, Susan Hilsenbeck, Jeffrey Rosen, and Tracy Vargo-Gogola (2010) Breast Cancer Research Sep 22;12(5):R73

    • Pleiotropic functions of Rho GTPase signaling: a Trojan horse or Achilles’ heel for breast cancer treatment?

      Peter McHenry and Tracy Vargo-Gogola (2010) Current Drug Targets 11(9):1043-58.

    • lejimalides A and B inhibit lysosomal vacuolar H+-ATPase (V-ATPase) activity and induce S-phase arrest and apoptosis in MCF-7 cells

      Peter McHenry, Wei-Lin Winnie Wang, Edward Devitt, Nicholas Kluesner, Vincent Jo Davisson, Edward McKee, Dirk Schweitzer, Paul Helquist, and Martin Tenniswood (2009) Journal of Cellular Biochemistry 109(4):634-42

    • Haploinsufficiency for p190B RhoGAP inhibits MMTV-Neu tumor progression

      Brandy M Heckman-Stoddard, Tracy Vargo-Gogola, Peter R. McHenry, Vivian Jiang, Matthew P Herrick, Susan G Hilsenbeck, Jeffrey Settleman and Jeffrey M Rosen (2009) Breast Cancer Research 11(4):R61

    • Effects of iejimalide B, a marine macrolide, on growth and apoptosis in prostate cancer cell lines

      Winnie Wang, Peter McHenry, Randy Jeffrey, Dirk Schweitzer, Paul Helquist, and Martin Tenniswood (2008) J Cell Biochem 105(4):998-1007

    • Total synthesis of iejimalide B: An application of the Shiina macrolactonization

      Dirk Schweitzer, John J. Kane, Daniel Strand, Peter McHenry, Martin Tenniswood, and Paul Helquist (2007) Organic Letters 9(22):4619-227