Joshua Klopper, M.D., Assistant Professor of Medicine

Dr. Klopper joined the faculty of the Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Diabetes in July 2006.  Dr. Klopper was born and raised in Atlanta, GA.  His educational background includes a B.S. in Psychology in 1995 from Indiana University in Bloomington, IN.  He received his medical degree from the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA in 1999.  He relocated to Colorado in 1999 where he completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in 2002.  Dr. Klopper then did a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Endocrinology Division from 2002-2003 prior to starting his endocrinology fellowship at UCDHSC which he completed in June 2006. 

Dr. Klopper’s research interests are in the treatment of poorly differentiated thyroid cancer by the investigation of molecular targets in the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily.  Specifically he is investigating the activation of retinoid and PPARγ receptors to inhibit cell growth and potentially induce redifferentiation in aggressive thyroid cancers.

Dr. Klopper attends in the University of Colorado endocrinology clinic one day a week and in the multidisciplinary advanced thyroid oncology clinic at the University of Colorado Cancer Center one afternoon a month.

Selected Publications

• Copland JA, Marlow LA, Kurakata S, Fujiwara K, Wong AK, Kreinest PA, Williams SF, Haugen BR, Klopper JP, Smallridge RC. Novel high-affinity PPARgamma agonist alone and in combination with paclitaxel inhibits human anaplastic thyroid carcinoma tumor growth via p21WAF1/CIP1. Oncogene. 2006 Apr 13;25(16):2304-17. PUBMED

• Klopper JP, Hays WR, Sharma V, Baumbusch MA, Hershman JM and Haugen BR. 2004 RXRg and PPARg expression predicts thyroid carcinoma cell response to retinoid and thiazolidinedione treatment. Mol Cancer Ther 2004 3: 1011-1020. PUBMED

• Haugen BR, Larson LL, Pugazhenthi U, Hays WR, Klopper JP, Kramer CA, Sharma V. Retinoic acid and retinoid X receptors are differentially expressed in thyroid cancer and thyroid carcinoma cell lines and predict response to treatment with retinoids. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Jan;89(1):272-80. PUBMED