Nearly losing his cousin to diabetes left Brigham Blackwell (BIO ‘27) determined to uncover the science behind the disease. He was drawn to the Tessem Lab with its focus on diabetes and saw a chance to make a real difference. Now, as he explores alternative treatments, Blackwell is discovering the intricate and unpredictable nature of scientific research.
Soon after joining the Tessem Lab, Blackwell was assigned to study Cytosporone B—a compound known to activate NR4A1, a transcription factor that controls gene expression. Interested in its potential, he developed a project investigating how Cytosporone B affects beta cell proliferation and insulin secretion, important processes in diabetes treatment.
“Diabetes is a chronic pancreatic disease where the body loses its ability to maintain blood glucose homeostasis,” Blackwell explains. “That’s due to a loss of functional beta cell mass.” These cells are essential for sensing glucose and producing insulin.
To understand how those cells might be maintained, Blackwell turned to NR4A1, as it helps regulate cellular functions in the pancreas. Previous research has shown that Cytosporone B can activate NR4A1 in the brain to help fight disease, sparking a question that Blackwell sought to answer: if the compound can enhance NR4A1 activity in the brain, could it also trigger a similar response in the pancreas?
Blackwell used qPCRs and Western Blots to test for RNA and protein expression as he pursued this question and noticed a trend of increased NR4A1 expression following treatment with Cytosporone B. “It’s trending in the direction of being able to work as a potential therapeutic,” he explains. Seeing those early signs has only deepened his sense of purpose. Blackwell feels grateful to contribute to research that could one day benefit so many lives.
The journey to this discovery was not always a smooth one. It was a path marked by setbacks, including sample contaminations that resulted in having to start the experiments over. While frustrating, these challenges taught Blackwell that failure often teaches more than success. “Nine times out of ten, the failures are more important,” he reflects. “I’ve failed before. I'll fail again—as long as I learn from it.”
Alongside his evolving view of failure, Blackwell credits his faith as a grounding force in his research. “The human body itself is a work of art,” he says. “Seeing how it's crafted leaves me no doubt that it had to be created by an omnipotent creator.” Blackwell feels the complexity of the human body has helped humble him during his research. “I'm trying to manipulate a tiny, tiny portion of it, and that is way beyond my level of understanding,” he reflects. “So, how magnificent must He be to know how it all works?”
After a long and challenging research journey, Blackwell was honored to win first place in the microbiology and molecular biology category at the Life Sciences Research Conference. Reflecting on the tremendous work that he and his colleagues put into their research, Blackwell expresses, “For the lab itself to be recognized—that’s really the honor.”