A dynamic career in MS: applications to biomedical research

Ian A Blair speaks to Francesca Lake, Managing Editor: Blair received his PhD in Organic Chemistry in 1971 from Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, under the mentorship of the 1969 Nobel Laureate, Sir Derek HR Barton. He was appointed as the AN Richards Professor of Pharmacology at University of Pennsylvania in 1997 and Director of a new Center for Cancer Pharmacology. In 2002, Blair was appointed as Vice-Chair of the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics. In 2014, he became Director of the NIEHS-funded Penn Superfund Research and Training Program Center. Blair is an expert in the use of mass spectrometric methods for the structural elucidation and quantification of endogenous biomolecules. His current research is involved with the development of biomarkers in order to establish genetic/phenotype correlations and to assess the interaction between genes and exposure to environmental chemicals. He is particularly interested in the regulation of cellular oxidative stress and how this underpins mechanisms involved in carcinogenesis, cardiovascular disease and neurodegeneration. Blair discovered electron capture atmospheric pressure chemical ionization, a technique that makes it possible to conduct high sensitivity quantitative analyses of chiral biomolecules. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. He received the 2011 Eastern Analytical Award for Outstanding Achievements in Mass Spectrometry. Blair is Senior Editor of Future Science OA, and a member of the Editorial Board of several journals.