Ian A. Blair

About

Ian A. Blair, Ph.D., is the A.N. Richards Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He is an investigator at the Abramson Cancer Center and a member of the Institute for Medicine and Engineering, the Genomics Institute, and the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Blair directs the Program in Systems Biology within the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics and is involved in multiple research initiatives related to proteomics, DNA-adductomics, metabolomics, and lipidomics, with a focus on discovering biomarkers for early cancer detection and response in rare diseases. His research expertise includes establishing high-resolution mass spectrometry and molecular biology as tools for sophisticated biomarker discovery. His work emphasizes understanding danger-associated molecular pattern (DAMP) molecules such as Amyloid β-peptides and high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), particularly their roles in immune signaling and their potential as biomarkers in cancer and environmental exposure contexts. Dr. Blair has developed methodologies for quantifying HMGB1 proteoforms in plasma samples from patients with mesothelioma, non-small cell lung cancer, and asbestos exposure, as well as quantifying lipid hydroperoxide-mediated DNA damage in lymphocytes. Additionally, Dr. Blair's research extends to biomarkers of therapeutic response in rare genetic diseases, including Duchenne’s…

Research topics

• Oncology
• Chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Genetics
• Cell biology
• Biology
• Internal medicine
• Medicine
• Cancer research

Selected publications

• Lactate Limits T Cell Proliferation via the NAD(H) Redox State

  Cell Reports · 2020-12-01 · 337 citations

  articleOpen access

  Immune cell function is influenced by metabolic conditions. Low-glucose, high-lactate environments, such as the placenta, gastrointestinal tract, and the tumor microenvironment, are immunosuppressive, especially for glycolysis-dependent effector T cells. We report that nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+), which is reduced to NADH by lactate dehydrogenase in lactate-rich conditions, is a key point of metabolic control in T cells. Reduced NADH is not available for NAD+-dependent enzymatic rea…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• FBP1 loss disrupts liver metabolism and promotes tumorigenesis through a hepatic stellate cell senescence secretome

  Nature Cell Biology · 2020-05-04 · 203 citations

  articleOpen access
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Effects of systemic inflammation on relapse in early breast cancer

  npj Breast Cancer · 2021 · 37 citations

  Chronic inflammation has been a proposed mechanism of resistance to aromatase inhibitors in breast cancer. Stratifying by HER2 status, a matched case-control study from the Wellness After Breast Cancer-II cohort was performed to assess whether or not elevated serum inflammatory biomarkers (C-Reactive protein [CRP], interleukin-6 [IL-6], and serum amyloid A [SAA]) and/or the presence of a high-risk IL-6 promoter genotype were associated with recurrence of hormone receptor positive (HR+) early bre…

  DOI

• Using biochemistry and biophysics to extinguish androgen receptor signaling in prostate cancer

  Journal of Biological Chemistry · 2020 · 31 citations

  Castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) continues to be androgen receptor (AR) driven. Inhibition of AR signaling in CRPC could be advanced using state-of-the-art biophysical and biochemical techniques. Structural characterization of AR and its complexes by cryo-electron microscopy would advance the development of N-terminal domain (NTD) and ligand-binding domain (LBD) antagonists. The structural basis of AR function is unlikely to be determined by any single structure due to the intrinsic d…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Technical recommendations for analyzing oxylipins by liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

  Science Signaling · 2025-05-20 · 30 citations

  reviewOpen access

  Several oxylipins are potent lipid mediators that regulate diverse aspects of health and disease and whose quantitative analysis by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) presents substantial technical challenges. As members of the lipidomics community, we developed technical recommendations to ensure best practices when quantifying oxylipins by LC-MS.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• NIH Grant P50DK039261

  NIH · $13.1M · 2008

• NIH Grant R01CA091016

  NIH · $2.6M · 2011

• NIH Grant R01CA095586

  NIH · $1.4M · 2008

Frequent coauthors

• Clementina Mesaros

  431 shared

• Nathaniel W. Snyder

  141 shared

• T.M. Penning

  University of Pennsylvania

  128 shared

• Ronald G. Harvey

  79 shared

• Andrew J. Worth

  Massey University

  77 shared

• Jimmy P. Xu

  68 shared

• David A. Potter

  65 shared

• Seon Hwa Lee

  Tohoku University

  63 shared

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• Craig B. Thompsonh-277
• Daniel J Raderh-236