Dr. Laurence Miller is Director for Research and Deputy Director of the Cancer Center at Mayo Clinic Arizona. He is a member of the Division of Gastroenterology. He a Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Professor of Medicine, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine.

Dr. Miller's longstanding research focus has been in the area of G protein-coupled gastrointestinal hormone receptor structure, function, and regulation. This has focused on cholecystokinin (CCK)-gastrin, secretin-vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP), and motilin families of peptides and receptors. His most unique contributions to this area have been in the application of photochemistry as a probe of molecular mechanisms of ligand binding and conformation of ligand-receptor complexes. This has had substantial impact in the development of receptor-active drugs. Dr. Miller also works in areas of receptor signaling and regulation by biochemical and cellular mechanisms. These often differ in distinct types of cells and in tumors versus healthy cells. Characterization of these processes has provided still other potential mechanisms for therapeutic intervention in disease. Hormones and receptors have been shown to be capable of influencing the growth of normal cells and the progression and invasiveness of some tumors. The laboratory has been quite interested in the investigation of hormone-receptor systems in each phase of tumor development, and in the behavior of tumors and their response to specific therapeutic strategies. He has also become quite interested in the roles of these receptors in the development and progression of pancreatic and colon cancer. Recognition that these receptors are often misspliced in cancer has resulted in a second major area of interest in the molecular basis and the extent and diversity of mRNA missplicing in cancer. This has major implications for the development of diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, selective imaging agents, and therapeutic targeting.