![\"\"](\"https:\/\/magazines.uthscsa.edu\/schools\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2019\/12\/Future2019_Biochemist_image1.jpg\")
The internationally acclaimed biochemist Patrick Sung, D.Phil., returned to UT Health San Antonio as the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry in January. In addition, he was appointed professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Structural Biology; serves as associate dean for research in the Joe R. & Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine; and leads a new research program in genetic integrity at the Mays Cancer Center, home to UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt did not take us long to make the decision to come back to San Antonio,\u201d said Dr. Sung, who left UT Health in 2003 to join the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry at Yale University. \u201cThe leadership here is amazing. They are supportive of the type of work we do, and I feel like we will be able to make a lot more contributions here because we have the potential and room to grow.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other reason for our return is, and I would not underplay this, we love San Antonio. My wife and I looked at one another, nodded our heads and said, \u2018Let\u2019s go back to San Antonio,\u2019 and that was it. Decision made. It took us about 30 minutes to decide. We are in heaven here.\u201d<\/p>\n
A testament to his professionalism and acclaim, the majority of Dr. Sung\u2019s senior research associates moved to San Antonio as well to continue their work in his laboratory. They include one research associate professor, Youngho Kwon, Ph.D.; two research assistant professors, James Daley, Ph.D., and Eloise Dray, Ph.D.; four postdoctoral fellows, Ajinkya Kawale, Ph.D., Sameer Salunkhe, Ph.D., Barbara de la Pena Avalos, Ph.D., and Arijit Dutta, Ph.D.; a research scientist, Hardeep Kaur, Ph.D.; and a laboratory manager, Stephen Holloway, Ph.D.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese individuals are very highly qualified and experienced,\u201d Dr. Sung explained. \u201cIt was critical and important for me to have senior associates such as these individuals join me in order for me to hit the ground running.\u201d<\/p>\n
That is exactly what they have done, and their work in translating their previous findings\u2014regarding DNA repair and specifically the function that BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes play in that repair\u2014has begun.<\/p>\n
In fact, Dr. Sung has been on the forefront of studying DNA repair for 30 years since his graduate school days at the University of Oxford. As a trained protein and nucleic acid biochemist, his expertise is purifying delicate protein factors using techniques that were developed 50 to 60 years ago. Only a handful of biochemists from around the world are adept at this.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have developed a method to isolate BRCA1 and BRCA2 proteins in highly purified form. We constitute a reaction by mixing components in a test tube and then actually see a reaction occur in the tube that mimics what goes on in the cell. Now we can test mutations, actions of drugs, chemicals and so on in the test tube setting. That is why our findings have garnered quite a bit of attention around the world for that particular regard.\u201d<\/p>\n
While more and more researchers are studying BRCA genes, Dr. Sung\u2019s unique look at them continues to receive attention and financial support. The Cancer Prevention & Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) awarded $6 million to UT Health San Antonio to support Dr. Sung\u2019s recruitment; he received the highly competitive National Cancer Institute (NCI) Outstanding Investigator Award in September which will provide $6.1 million for his research through 2026; and the Gray Foundation of New York awarded him a $3.75 million, four-year \u201cteam science\u201d grant in July.<\/p>\n
Dr. Sung, who was born in Hong Kong, earned a bachelor\u2019s degree in science from the University of Liverpool, and became amazed by the complexity of biology as a student there.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a scientist, it really is amazing to make important research findings, but while you are doing it, you don\u2019t realize what impact it will generate because you are absorbed in the problem,\u201d Dr. Sung said. \u201cWe did not set out to get famous. That was not our goal. It has never been our goal. We just do what we think will lead us to a mechanistic answer of an immensely complex biological problem, and it just turns out that our findings have very important clinical applications and relevance.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this time, we have developed the framework to continually make significant contributions in biochemistry, specifically cancer biology, but I want to translate some of those findings now into something tangible to help cancer patients in terms of management, recovery and prevention. UT Health provides me with the environment to conduct that research.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is incredible support for biomedical research in Texas, and I hope that Texas will act as a shining example for the rest of the nation of how a state through legislation and its citizens can really create an environment for cancer research, for neuroscience and more.\u201d<\/p>\n