Dr. Andrew Blackford

Biography

Andrew Nicholas Blackford is an Associate Professor at the University of Copenhagen, focusing on how mutations that cause DNA damage can lead normal cells to become cancerous. His research particularly emphasizes the genes involved in DNA damage recognition, signaling, and repair, and seeks to understand how somatically acquired defects in these genes drive tumor formation. Blackford's work is instrumental in exploring effective cancer treatments that induce DNA damage, especially double-strand breaks, and his aim is to leverage this knowledge to develop personalized cancer therapies. He employs cutting-edge methodologies, including bioinformatics, proteomics, microscopy, and CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing techniques, to investigate the specific mechanisms that cells use to coordinate DNA damage recognition and repair, as well as the activation of cell cycle checkpoints and apoptosis. His current research interests encompass protein-protein interaction networks in DNA damage response, the evolution of DNA damage response and repair pathways, and the role of RecQ helicases in maintaining genome stability. Blackford has collaborated extensively with various organizations, including the Danish Cancer Society and Cancer Research UK.

Research Interests

Experience