Patrick R. Blackburn
Patrick R. Blackburn grew up on the beach in Palm Harbor, Fla., and planned to study art at the University of Florida, just a few hours from his home. Instead, he found himself studying virology and traveling abroad in pursuit of that interest.
As an undergraduate, Patrick worked in the entomology and nematology department at the University of Florida, then later in plant pathology. He did his undergraduate thesis work on the detection and characterization of begomovirus infections in Florida crops. While pursuing his Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, Patrick continued to cultivate his interest in intaglio printmaking.
Art and virology are not as different as one might imagine — both have the power to change lives. Patrick says that making time to pursue art helps him "maintain an important internal balance with all the rigors and demands of graduate study."
From art to science
His life-changing experience in virology occurred just a few months before obtaining his bachelor's degree, when he had the opportunity to travel to Guatemala to visit the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's International Emerging Infections Program for Central America and Panama.
"We toured the laboratory facilities at the university and the rural field clinic in Santa Rosa, and we performed clinical rounds with Dr. Henry Stokes and other members of the neurology staff at the Hospital General San Juan de Dios in Guatemala City.
"We had a discussion of the clinical presentation of the poorly characterized acute flaccid paralysis disease complex with members of the staff. Dr. Stokes personally challenged us to do something, be it through fundraising or letter writing or our respective studies, which would have a lasting effect on the people suffering from this illness," says Patrick.
That experience gave Patrick a new appreciation for the impact that research can have on people's lives. To be part of that impact, he chose to continue his education in biomedical science by pursuing the clinical and translational science track in the Ph.D. Program.
Multiple myeloma in Arizona
Patrick is currently studying multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer, in the laboratory of Leif Bergsagel, M.D., and Marta Chesi, Ph.D., at Mayo Clinic's campus in Arizona. Patrick and his fellow researchers are looking to gain more insight into the biology of the disease, as well as the genetic changes that occur within the tumor during the course of treatment, which are thought to mediate resistance to current therapies.
In order to effectively treat the disease, new treatments and therapeutic regimens must be developed, which require detailed study of the molecular drivers of disease progression, Patrick explains. He and his colleagues are using a variety of techniques to study patient samples, looking at these apparent therapy-induced genetic changes.
They're also using mouse models developed by the lab to study therapeutic resistance in a more controlled setting. Patrick is primarily focused on developing new high-risk myeloma disease mouse models and studying the functional significance of genetic abnormalities in humans as they relate to treatment response. Together with his colleagues, Patrick aims to identify differences in high-risk patients that will allow researchers to develop more-effective therapies.
Making a difference
Through his translational research, Patrick hopes to make a difference both in the laboratory and directly in people's lives.
"As a biomedical scientist, I'll strive to make my research accessible to others, and I hope that my efforts will lead to advances that will have relevancy and importance outside of the laboratory," he says. "It's important to remain purposeful, driven and enthusiastic about one's research. When you are helping others through your work, the sacrifices and frustrations inherent in research are dwarfed by the sense of fulfillment."
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