Matthew M. Poppe, MD

Matthew Poppe, MD, a Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) physician and investigator, is a professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Utah. He is a member of the multidisciplinary pediatric, sarcoma, and breast teams and is director of the residency program in Radiation Oncology.

As the primary radiation oncologist providing radiation for kids with cancer, he is actively engaged in Children’s Oncology Group and conducts translational, clinical, and outcomes research. He works with the COG in the design of new pediatric clinical trials and is currently the radiation co-chair of AALL 1732, A Phase 3 Randomized Trial of Inotuzumab Ozogamicin for Newly Diagnosed High-Risk B-ALL; Risk-Adapted Post-Induction Therapy for High-Risk B-ALL, Mixed Phenotype Acute Leukemia, and Disseminated B-LLy.

Dr. Poppe is actively engaged in the research and the care of patients with breast cancer. He currently serves as co-chair of the Breast Local Control group and Vice Chair for the Breast Committee for the Alliance Cooperative Trials Group and is a member of the NCI BOLD Task Force for the Breast Cancer Steering Committee. He is the principal investigator on an international trial (RT CHARM/Alliance A221505), which is a phase III randomized trial evaluating the safety and efficacy of short course radiation in the setting of mastectomy with breast reconstruction. He is also the principal investigator of a phase II trial at Huntsman Cancer Institute, evaluating a novel 9-day hypofractionated course of whole breast radiation. Additionally, he has published 34 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 3 book chapters, and presented numerous posters at national and international meetings. In 2018, he was recognized as a Huntsman Translational Scholar.

Dr. Poppe earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, CA. He worked in engineering at NASA AMES before attending medical school at Oregon Health Sciences University, Portland, OR. Dr. Poppe completed a Family Practice residency through the University of California Davis, Mercy Medical Center, Redding, California. In 2001, Dr. Poppe entered active duty in the US Air Force and practiced family and aerospace medicine until 2006. Dr. Poppe completed his radiation oncology residency at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey. During residency, he was active in residency training issues as a review committee member for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education and Executive member of the Association of Residents in Radiation Oncology.