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David Blodgett

  • Associate Professor
Academic Division: Mathematics, Analytics, Science, and Technology
781-239-6423
​Dr. Blodgett joined Babson College in September of 2012 and currently teaches Biotechnology in the Math and Science Division. He received his B.A. in Chemistry and Spanish from Assumption College in 2002, his Ph.D. in Biomedical Science in 2007, and M.S. in Clinical Investigation in 2012 at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Dr. Blodgett's research interests center on glucose metabolism and the dysfunction caused by diabetes. In the lab, he investigates gene expression changes in alpha and beta cells from human pancreatic islets donors who do not have diabetes or have type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The goal of these studies is to identify genes that positively or negatively affect beta cell function, which could eventually become therapeutic targets. His research has been accepted for publication in peer-reviewed journals such as: Diabetes, Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Obesity, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of General Physiology, and Biochemistry. Dr. Blodgett is generally interested in educating the broader community about the role of science and technology in everyone's daily lives and looks forward to establishing a student centered research program on campus.

Academic Degrees

  • MS, UMASS Medical School
  • Ph D, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, UMASS Medical School
  • BA, Assumption College

Academic Interest / Expertise

Molecular Biology; Biotechnology; Genetics; Diabetes; Sustainability; Systems Thinking

Awards & Honors

  • 2023 — Service Award, Babson College
  • 2018 — BFRF Awards for Excellence in Scholarship, Babson College
  • 2015 — Excellence in Adjunct Teaching Award, Babson College
  • 2007 — Chancellor’s Award for Graduate School Education, University of Massachusetts Medical School
  • 2006 — GSBS Dean’s Award for Mid-Thesis Research, University of Massachusetts Medical School
  • 2006 — Gail-Patrick Innovation Grant Award, American Diabetes Association
  • 2004 — Graduate Fellowship Award Honorable Mention, National Science Foundation

Courses

  • Degree Courses 2024

    • SES 2000 SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
    • NST 1070 CLIMATE AND HUMAN HEALTH
    • SCN 3601 TRIUMPHS&TRIALS PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
  • Degree Courses 2023

    • SES 2000 SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS

Publications

Journal Articles

  • Blodgett, D.M., Feld, M.N. (2020). “Teaching an Interdisciplinary Course in Sustainable Food Systems: Science and History Meet in ‘A World That Works.’” Featured in a special issue titled “Production & Consumption". International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education. Vol: December 2020. Emerald Publishing.
  • Redick, S.D., Leehy, L., Rittenhouse, A.R., Blodgett, D.M., Derr, A.G., Kucukural, A., Garber, M.G., Shultz, L.D., Greiner, D.L., Wang, J.P., Harlan, D.M., Bortell, R., Jurczyk, A. (2020). Recovery of viable endocrine‐specific cells and transcriptomes from human pancreatic islet‐engrafted mice. The FASEB Journal. Vol: 34, Issue: 1, Page: 1901-1911. Wiley. link
  • Russell, M.A., Redick, S.D., Blodgett, D.M., Richardson, S.J., Leete, P., Krogvold, L., Dahl-Jørgensen, K., Bottino, R., Brissova, M., Spaeth, J.M., Babon, J.A., Haliyur, R., Powers, A.C., Yang, C., Kent, S.C., Derr, A.G., Kucukural, A., Garber, M.G., Morgan, N.G., Harlan, D.M. (2019). HLA Class II Antigen Processing and Presentation Pathway Components Demonstrated by Transcriptome and Protein Analyses of Islet β-Cells From Donors With Type 1 Diabetes. Diabetes. Vol: 68, Issue: 5, Page: 988-1001. American Diabetes Association. link
  • Brissova, M., Haliyur, R., Saunders, D., Shrestha, S., Dai, C., Blodgett, D.M., Bottino, R., Campbell-Thompson, M., Aramandla, R., Poffenberger, G., Lindner, J., Pan, F.C., von Herrath, M.G., Greiner, D.L., Shultz, L.D., Sanyoura, M., Philipson, L.H., Atkinson, M.A., Harlan, D.M., Levy, S.E., Prasad, N., Stein, R., Powers, A.C. (2018). α Cell Function and Gene Expression Are Compromised in Type 1 Diabetes. Vol: 22, Issue: 10, Page: 2667-2676. link
  • Babon, J.A., DeNicola, M.E., Blodgett, D.M., Crèvecoeur, I., Buttrick, T.S., Maehr, R., Bottino, R., Naji, A., Kaddis, J., Elyaman, W., others, . (2016). Analysis of self-antigen specificity of islet-infiltrating T cells from human donors with type 1 diabetes. Nature Medicine. Vol: 22, Issue: 12, Page: 1482–1487. Nature Publishing Group.
  • Jurczyk, A., Nowosielska, A., Przewozniak, N., Aryee, K., DiIorio, P., Blodgett, D.M., Yang, C., Campbell-Thompson, M., Atkinson, M., Shultz, L., others, . (2016). Beyond the brain: disrupted in schizophrenia 1 regulates pancreatic $β$-cell function via glycogen synthase kinase-3$β$!!!. FASEB Journal, The. Vol: 30, Issue: 2, Page: 983–993. Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.
  • Derr, A., Yang, C., Zilionis, R., Sergushichev, A., Blodgett, D.M., Redick, S., Bortell, R., Luban, J., Harlan, D.M., Kadener, S., others, . (2016). End Sequence Analysis Toolkit (ESAT) expands the extractable information from single-cell RNA-seq data. Genome Research. Vol: 26, Issue: 10, Page: 1397–1410. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.
  • Blodgett, D.M., Redick, S.D., Harlan, D.M. (2016). Surprising Heterogeneity of Pancreatic Islet Cell Subsets. Cell Systems. Vol: 3, Issue: 4, Page: 330–332. Cell Press.
  • Blodgett, D.M., Nowosielska, A., Afik, S., Pechhold, S., Cura, A.J., Kennedy, N.J., Kim, S., Kucukural, A., Davis, R.J., Kent, S.C., Greiner, D.L., Garber, M.G., Harlan, D.M., diIorio, P. (2015). Novel Observations From Next-Generation RNA Sequencing of Highly Purified Human Adult and Fetal Islet Cell Subsets. Diabetes. Vol: 64, Issue: 9, Page: 3172-81. American Diabetes Association. link
  • Blodgett, D.M., Cura, A.C., Harlan, D.M. (2014). The pancreatic beta cell transcriptome and integrated-omics. Current Opinion in Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity. Vol: 21, Issue: 2, Page: 83-88. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Ltd.. link
  • Shaw, S.Y., Blodgett, D.M., Ma, M.S., Westly, E.C., Clemons, P.A., Subramanian, A., Schreiber, S.L. (2011). Disease allele-dependent small-molecule sensitivities in blood cells from monogenic diabetes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Vol: 108, Issue: 2, Page: 492-7. link
  • Blodgett, D.M., Graybill, C., Carruthers, A. (2008). Analysis of glucose transporter topology and structural dynamics. J Biol Chem. Vol: 283, Issue: 52, Page: 36416-24. link
  • Blodgett, D.M., De Zutter, J.K., Levine, K.B., Karim, P., Carruthers, A. (2007). Structural basis of GLUT1 inhibition by cytoplasmic ATP. J Gen Physiol. Vol: 130, Issue: 2, Page: 157-68. link
  • Blodgett, D.M., Carruthers, A. (2005). Quench-flow analysis reveals multiple phases of GluT1-mediated sugar transport. Biochemistry. Vol: 44, Issue: 7, Page: 2650-60. link
  • Blodgett, D.M., Carruthers, A. (2004). Conventional transport assays underestimate sugar transport rates in human red cells. Blood Cells Mol Dis. Vol: 32, Issue: 3, Page: 401-7. link

Book Chapters

  • Winrich, C.D., Rodgers, V.L., Maclean, M.G., Blodgett, D.M., Schaefer, J. (2015). Science education as entrepreneurial thought and action methodology: Evolving Entrepreneurial Education: Innovation in the Babson Classroom. Emerald.

Presentations

  • Studies to explore single islet heterogeneity, correlating function with that islet’s cellular constituents, T cell infiltration, and single cell gene expression Blodgett, D. Harlan, D. Redick, S. Kent, S. Tarpley, M. Cuddy, J. Angjeli, K. Zhang, Y. HIRN 2022 Annual Investigator Meeting, Washington DC (2022)
  • Single Islet Experiments to Investigate the Role of Islet Heterogeneity in Autoimmune Infiltration Blodgett, D. Redick, S. Kent, S. Harlan, D. Tarpley, M. Cuddy, J. Angjeli, K. Zheng, Y. Integrated Physiology of the Exocrine & Endocrine Compartments in Pancreatic Diseases, Bethesda, MD (2022)
  • Development of an islet micropunch to isolate and characterize single islets from donors with and without T1D through the nPOD pancreatic slice program Redick, S. Angjeli, K. Blodgett, D. Derr, A. Kent, S. Zheng, Y. Harlan, D. 13th Annual nPod Scientific Meeting, Virtual (2021)
  • Using bioinformatics tools to overcome technical and donor specific contributions, while preserving biological variation associated with islet cell transcriptomic heterogeneity Blodgett, D. Redick, S. Derr, A. Kent, S. Greiner, D. Harlan, D. Levine-Riggs Diabetes Research Symposium , Universal City, CA (2020)
  • Type 1 Diabetes at the Cellular and Gene Level - Upregulation of Immune Response Genes Blodgett, D. BFRF Research Chat, Babson College (2019)
  • Integrated Sustainability: Panel on Course Collaboration for Integrated Sustainability Blodgett, D. Feld, M. Babson Research Day, Babson College (2019)
  • Heterogeneity in beta-cell expression of HLA Class II antigen processing and pathway components in T1D Blodgett, D. Research in Progress Talk, University of Massachusetts Medical School (2019)
  • Lessons from Islet Cell Transcriptomes: the illustration of heterogeneity in T1D beta cells Blodgett, D. 2018 nPOD (The Network for Pancreatic Organ Donors with Diabetes) Annual Meeting, Hollywood Florida (2018)
  • Type I Diabetes - Immune Genes in Target Cells Blodgett, D. Babson Research Day, Babson College (2018)
  • How does diabetes affect human pancreas genetics and how do we study it? Blodgett, D. Babson Research Day, Babson College (2017)
  • Molecular Profiling of Human Pancreatic Alpha and Beta Cells in Health and Disease Blodgett, D. 16th Annual Rachmiel Levine-Arthur Riggs Diabetes Research Symposium, Long Beach, CA (2016)
  • Using a biotechnology course to increase scientific literacy and promote scientific relevancy for business students Blodgett, D. 3rd Life Discovery – Doing Science Biology Education Conference, Baltimore, MD (2016)
  • doi:10.2337/db14-1-388 Blodgett, D. ADA 74th Scientific Sessions, (2014)
  • doi:10.2337/db13-2161-2296 Blodgett, D. ADA 73rd Scientific Sessions, (2013)
  • Blodgett, D. Beta Cell Biology Consortium, (2013)
  • Blodgett, D. Beta Cell Biology Consortium, (2012)
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Department & College Wide Services

  • Faculty Workload and Compensation Committee (Fall 2017 - Summer 2020)
  • Science Classroom Advisory Committee (Spring 2017 - Summer 2018)