Ian Blair, Ph.D. Research in the Blair laboratory is heavily involved in the use of mass spectrometry for proteomics and DNA analysis.

Oxidative stress, carcinogenesis, and cardiovascular disease

The reactive oxygen species superoxide, peroxide, and hydroxyl radical, are generated constantly in vivo from ground state triplet oxygen. This occurs by a variety of endogenous processes including, normal mitochondrial aerobic respiration, phagocytosis of bacteria or virus-containing cells, and peroxisomal-mediated degradation of fatty acids. Catechols, which arise in vivo through the metabolism of drugs, environmental chemicals, and endogenous hormones, generate reactive oxygen species through redox cycling.

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Jasbir Singh Arora re-joined Dr. Blair’s lab as a research associate in January 2008. Earlier he had worked for two years (2002-2004) in Dr. Blair’s lab and was involved in the synthesis of bi-functional electrophiles which were used to study the modifications in biological systems to understand mechanism of oxidative stress. During his one year stay at University of Central Florida, he worked on the chemical ligations especially the amide bond facilitating the formation of peptide bond in aqueous conditions. He was also involved in the studies of the self assembly of a phase III molecule for diabetes in collaboration with Mannkind Biopharmaceuticals. He received his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from Guru Nanak Dev University Amritsar, India. The key features of the Ph.D. work involved synthesis of tetrahydrofolate Coenzyme Models (Oxazolidines and Oxazinanes) and study their potential as carbon transfer reagents.

As a result a new methodology for the synthesis of alpha-tetralones, 4H-pyrans and benzopyrans, xanthanediones, acridinediones, pyridines, pyridopyrimidines was developed. He also has extensive experience in the industrial set up. He served in the New Drug Discovery Department of Ranbaxy Research Laboratories, India for seven years. At Ranbaxy, he worked on different therapeutic areas like diabetes, cancer, anti-infectives and was involved in the design and synthesis of new chemical entities. He also led a team of scientists in a GSK-Ranbaxy collaborative anti-infective project. Presently, as a Senior Investigator, he is working on the synthesis of labeled and unlabeled intermediates, generated during various stages of oxidative stress. He is also working on the development of quantification methods for PUFA in biological systems, using LC-MS/MS.

Clementina Mesaros joined the Blair lab in September 2004. She received her Ph. D. in organic chemistry from CASE University, Cleveland. Her graduate research in Prof. Robert Salomon's lab, involved the total synthesis of several oxidized phosphoplipids and mechanistic studies of lipids oxidation. During her three years of post-doctoral training in the Blair lab, she worked on the synthesis of reactive bifunctional electrophiles derived from AA. Clementina was also involved in identification of a novel 4-oxo-2(E)-nonenal adduct with glutathione (TOG) as a biomarker of oxidative stress using LC/MS approaches. She developed an LC/MS method for quantification of epoxy-eicosatrienoic acids and dihyrdroxy eicosatrienoic acids in biological samples. Clementina is now a Senior Investigator in the Blair lab and she is working on developing LC/MS assays for urinary biomarkers of oxidative stress.

Suhong Zhang joined the Blair Lab in July, 2009. He received his Ph.D. (Organic Chemistry) from University of New Orleans in 2006. His dissertation was focused on the Synthesis of Natural Compounds and DAT ligands. He then joined Dr. Dutta's lab as a postdoctoral fellow synthesizing dopamine D3 ligands at Wayne State University. He worked on pain-targeted drug development approximately for one year at Adolor Corporation, before he joined the Blair lab as a postdoctoral research fellow. His current research is the structural identification and quantitative analysis of DNA-adduct in biological fluids using LC/MS/MS system. The project is involved in studying covalent modifications to DNA by PAH quinines and 8-oxo-2'-deoxyguanosine levels produced due to oxidative DNA damage.

Xiaojing Liu graduated from University of Science and Technology of China in 2007. She is a Ph.D. candidate in the Chemistry department and arrived in the Blair Lab in September 2008. In her current project she is trying to identify a potential bifunctional electrophile, which is a possible product of the 15-HpETE decomposition. Its biological effect, such as the modification of DNA and proteins will also be studied, which can potentially serve as the biomarker of lipid hydroperoxide-mediated macromolecule damage.

Matthew MacDonald is a PhD candidate in the department of Pharmacology. He attended Oglethorpe University where he earned a B.S. in biology with a minor in chemistry. After graduation he worked as a technician at McLean Hospital researching psychiatric disease and psychotropic pharmacology. Matt joined the Blair Lab in 2007. His thesis work focuses on utilizing novel biochemical and proteomic techniques to investigate NMDA receptor complex dysfunction in schizophrenia.

Nathaniel W. Snyder graduated with honors from University of Maryland: College Park in 2009 with a B.S. in Biochemistry and a minor in Philosophy.  He previously held internships at the USDA in Beltsville, MD, the Genetic Alliance in Washington, D.C. as well as two training awards at NIH: NIAID in Bethesda, MD.  His research will focus on specific small molecule mediators of chronic inflammation and atherosclerosis in regards to the magnitude and mechanisms with which they exert pathophysiological effects.