Luke Engelking, M.D., Ph.D.

Biography

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Luke Engelking, M.D., Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and a member of its Division of Digestive and Liver Diseases. His clinical interests include the treatment of patients with either known or suspected inherited disorders of polyposis and colorectal cancer, including Lynch syndrome, familial adenomatous polyposis syndrome, Peutz-Jeghers syndrome, juvenile polyposis syndrome, and Cowden syndrome. His subspecialty clinics in genetic gastrointestinal disorders are located in the Simmons Cancer Center's Genetic Cancer Prevention Clinic, Parkland Health and Hospital Systems GI Clinic, and the Digestive and Liver Diseases Clinic.

Originally from Houston, Dr. Engelking received bachelor's degrees in biochemistry and genetics from Texas A&M University. He then completed his medical degree and a doctoral degree in biomedical science at UT Southwestern, where he studied cholesterol and fat metabolism under the tutelage of Nobel laureates Michael Brown, M.D. and Joseph Goldstein, M.D. He obtained internal medicine residency training at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and returned to UT Southwestern for clinical and research fellowships in gastroenterology. He later completed intensive training in genetic cancer risk assessment (GCRA) from the City of Hope and is a certified GCRA specialist.

As a postdoctoral researcher, he studied lipid synthesis in the intestine, which is recognized as a key metabolic organ at the center of nutrient homeostasis. He demonstrated that sterol response element-binding proteins (SREBPs) are major players in the regulation of intestinal lipid synthesis.

A Diplomate of the American Board of Internal Medicine in both internal medicine and gastroenterology, Dr. Engelking joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2014.

His lab investigates lipid metabolic regulation of intestinal epithelial homeostasis and tumorgenesis, supported by major grants from National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). His ultimate goals are to discover new lipid-derived oncometabolites that may be targeted in the fight against colon cancer and to clarify the links between dietary lipids and intestinal cancers. He is a local leader in clinical trials in colorectal cancer, colon cancer screening, and hereditary GI cancer syndromes.

Dr. Engelking is an active member of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and the American Gastroenterological Association.