Randolph (Randy) Larsen is excited by the challenge of studying the biology behind cancers that have been notoriously difficult to treat. He hopes to shed light on how and why these cancers arise so that more precise and effective therapies can be developed.
Larsen earned his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry in 2019 from St. Mary’s College of Maryland (SMCM) in St. Mary’s City. There, he was awarded the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department’s Award for Excellence in Biochemistry, which is given to the most outstanding Biochemistry major in each graduating class. At SMCM, he worked in the lab of Geoffrey Bowers, PhD, studying chemical interactions with mineral surfaces, as well as the role of mineral surfaces in the origin of life.
Larsen currently works in the lab of Mark Hatley, MD, PhD, Oncology, where he researches soft tissue sarcomas with a focus on rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS). He hopes to use model systems such as genetically engineered mice and iPSCs along with techniques such as CRISPR screens and sc-RNA-Seq to study core regulatory circuitry underpinning RMS transformation and tumorigenicity. He earned his master's degree from the St. Jude Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in May 2021.
“It is an incredible blessing to be at an institution that has such a powerful mission and outstanding research capabilities,” he says. “I’m excited be part of the next generation of researchers working to cure catastrophic childhood cancers.”
Hometown: Huntingtown, Maryland
Publications
Chang Y, Min J, Jarusiewicz JA, Actis M, Yu S, Mayasundari A, Yang L, Chepyala D, Alcock L, Roberts KG, Nithianantham S, Maxwell D, Rowland L, Larsen IV RK, Seth A, Goto H, Imamura T, Akahane K, Hansen BS, Pruett-Miller SM, Paietta E, Litzow MR, Qu C, Yang JJ, Fischer M, Rankovic Z, Mullighan CG. Degradation of Janus kinases in CRLF2-rearranged acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blood. Jun. 10, 2021.
Bowers GM., Loring JS, Walter ED, Burton SD, Bowden ME, Hoyt DW, Arey B, Larsen IV RK, and Kirkpatrick RJ. Influence of smectite structure and hydration on supercritical methane binding and dynamics in smectite pores. The Journal of Physical Chemistry C 123, no. 48: 29231-29244, 2019.
Bowers, GM, Loring JS, Schaef HT, Cunniff SS, Walter ED, Burton SD, Larsen IV RK, Miller QRS, Bowden ME, Ilton ES, Kirkpatrick RJ. Chemical trapping of CO2 by clay minerals at reservoir conditions: two mechanisms observed by in situ high-pressure and-temperature experiments. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry 3, no. 6 : 1034-1046, 2019.