Gerard Blobe, MD, PhD

Duke University School of Medicine Durham, NC
Professor of Medicine Associate Director, Duke Cancer Institute

Dr. Blobe is a Professor of Medicine, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University School of Medicine. He is currently the Associate Director of Training and Education for the Duke Cancer Institute. Dr. Blobe’s laboratory investigates the role of TGF-β superfamily signaling in cancer biology, focusing on mechanisms for their dichotomous tumor promoting and suppressing function, as well as investigating strategies for targeting these pathways. His research has established novel paradigms for TGF-β co-receptor function in regulating the trafficking and signaling of associated receptors, as well as the role of these TGF-βco-receptors in cancer biology. Clinically he specializes in treatment of patients with colorectal and pancreatic cancer, and in Phase I therapeutics. Dr. Blobe’s lab has received peer-reviewed funding from the National Institutes of Health/National Cancer Institute, the Department of Defense, the American Cancer Society and the American Heart Dr. Blobe has served as an Associate Editor for The Journal of Clinical Investigation Association., on the editorial board for The Journal of Biological Chemistry, and as a standing member of the NIH Molecular Oncology Study Section. Dr. Blobe has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers, including articles in The New England Journal of Medicine, Science, The Journal of Clinical Oncology, The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, The Journal of Clinical Investigation, Blood, The FASEB Journal and The Journal of Biological Chemistry, and has given over 100 invited lectures and grand round presentations including presentations at the American Association for Cancer Research and FASEB Conferences. For his research efforts, Dr. Blobe was awarded a V Foundation Scholar Award, a Research Scholar Award from the American Cancer Society, the Gertrude B. Elion Award for Cancer Research from the American Association for Cancer Research and was inducted into the American Society of Clinical Investigation.

References

1. Novel silatecan displays high lipophilicity, improved blood stability and potent
anticancer activity. Bom D, et al J Med Chem 2000; 43:3970-3980

2. Silatecan DB-67 is a novel DNA Topo-1 targeted radiation sensitizer: Chen AY. Mol
Cancer Ther 2005; 4(2): 317-24.

3. Phase I study publication: Arnold SM, et al. Clin Cancer Res. 2010;6:673-680

4. Phase II study publication (abstract): Kumthekar P, et al. SNO 2019. Poster ACTR-40,
published in Neuro-Oncology(https://academic.oup.com/neuro-oncology)

5. Ubiquitin-dependent Destruction of Topoisomerase I Is
Stimulated by the Antitumor Drug Camptothecin*, Desai et al. The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 272, No. 39, Issue of September 26, pp. 24159–24164, 1997.  https://www.jbc.org

6. Metabolic Pathways of the Camptothecin Analog AR-67, Horn et al. Drug Metabolism and Disposition, Vol. 39, No. 4, 37390/3672838, 2011. https://dmd.aspetjournals.org