Jonathan Blackburn, DPhil, mASSAf, Fellow of UCT
Prof. Jonathan Blackburn is Chair of Chemical & Systems Biology at the University of Cape Town, Deputy Director of the Institute of Infectious Disease & Molecular Medicine, and Chief Chief Scientific Office at Sengenics Corporation. He was formerly an academic in the biochemistry department at the University of Cambridge. Prof. Blackburn has published more than 125 papers, nine book chapters, and has edited one book. In addition, he has 32 granted patents and a further ten patents pending. His proteomic research programs focus on diseases that are prevalent on the African continent, including tuberculosis, HIV-associated disorders and COVID-19, as well as lung, pancreatic and prostate cancers.
Through his research, he aims to identify and translate diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for use in clinical settings, as well as to unravel underlying molecular mechanisms of diseases. He serves on the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health’s Biomarker Consortium steering committees for cancer and inflammation and immunity, on the Council of the Human Proteome Organization (HUPO), and on the editorial advisory boards of the Journal of the American Chemical Society Au, the Journal of Proteomic Research; and the Expert Review of Proteomics journal.