Elijah Johnson Came to the CU Cancer Center to Research the Mutation That Makes Him More Likely to Develop Cancer

Rising up in Windsor, Colorado, Elijah Johnson thought he would develop as much as be an expert musician. He by no means thought-about a profession as a biomedical researcher. However that every one modified when his mom was recognized with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome (LFS), a uncommon genetic mutation that will increase the danger of most cancers.

“My mom had three cancers earlier than the age of 40, which made the physicians suspicious,” says Johnson, now a junior at Colorado Christian College (CCU) in Lakewood. “They’d examined her just a few years previous to that for any genetic abnormalities, however her mutation was missed again then, partially as a result of they didn’t have the expertise they’ve now. They examined her once more after her third most cancers, they usually discovered the mutation in her gene.”

Since LFS is genetically inherited, Johnson and his three brothers have been examined for the situation as effectively. He and his youthful brother have been each constructive for LFS, a uncommon mutation in a tumor suppressor gene referred to as TP53. The mutation makes the physique much less capable of cease cancers from rising and spreading, rising the danger that those that have it can develop most cancers. In accordance with the Li-Fraumeni Syndrome Associationfolks with LFS have a 90% probability of creating no less than one kind of most cancers of their lifetime, and a 50% probability of creating a most cancers earlier than age 30.

For Johnson, his brother, and tons of of others like them, meaning elevated surveillance and screenings for cancers which are more likely to develop.

“It’s a little bit of a ready recreation, and we have now to do plenty of screening and preventative measures with a view to catch it early,” Johnson says. “Quarterly, we do belly ultrasounds, bloodwork, and bodily checkups with an oncologist, and I’ll begin doing biannual colonoscopies at 25. None of it’s excessive, however each few months we do one thing.”

Introduction to medical analysis

Partially in response to his LFS analysis, Johnson entered CCU as an aspiring doctor. However his work in a analysis lab on the college shifted his focus to medical analysis and the prospect to assist others with LFS. In 2022, by way of the College of Colorado Most cancers Middle’s Cancer Research Experience for Undergraduates (CREU) program, he started conducting analysis within the lab of CU Most cancers Middle member Matt WitkowskiPhD.

“I entered faculty eager to grow to be a doctor. After which throughout my first semester, I carried out biomedical analysis with a professor right here at CCU, and I fell in love with it,” Johnson says. “That professor let me know concerning the CREU program, which is a paid internship that permits you to expertise analysis at an enormous tutorial establishment. I used to be only a freshman, and I did not have a lot expertise, however I made a decision to present it a shot.”

Johnson works in Witkowski’s lab.

A brand new arrival to the CU Most cancers Middle on the time, Witkowski wasn’t planning to tackle a scholar researcher till he learn Johnson’s software.

“He had such a private story that I assumed, ‘I’m going to take him. He actually needs to do that,’” remembers Witkowski, assistant professor of pediatrics. “To see somebody who lives with this situation apply for this place was actually inspiring. There was a lot ardour in his essay and software, and he actually needs to make a distinction for individuals who have this syndrome. I made a decision to convey him in as a result of he’s making an attempt to do one thing for folks like himself.”

Significant analysis

Johnson labored in Witkowski’s lab from June 2022 to February 2023. Witkowski developed a venture related to LFS, trying to create an animal mannequin of acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a blood most cancers impacted by the TP53 gene. It was thrilling, Johnson says, to work on a venture that had such a private connection.

“It confirmed my ardour for analysis,” he says. “It confirmed me that it’s attainable to do analysis within the space that I’d prefer to, and that I may have a constructive impact on the sector and on sufferers’ lives in the future.”

For his half, Witkowski says, the venture he created in response to Johnson’s LFS set him on a brand new analysis path.

“It modified the way in which I have a look at my future as a scientist in some ways,” Witkowski says. “This is likely one of the largest issues in most cancers. In my PhD and my postdoc, each time you considered TP53, it’s like Mount Everest. We might by no means get to the highest of it. That’s one factor I’ve accepted now. However no less than we will make just a few dents and be taught just a little bit extra about it. It’s grow to be very thrilling to me.”

Vibrant future

Johnson labored on one other CREU venture in summer season 2023, this one within the lab of Daniel LaBarberaPhD, assistant professor within the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Each experiences on the CU Anschutz Medical Campus solidified Johnson’s curiosity in biomedical analysis; he’s now wanting into MD-PhD applications he can apply to after he graduates from CCU.

Witkowski has little doubt his former protégé will succeed.

“Anybody that motivated and curious does effectively on this job,” Witkowski says. “Elijah has this drive that lots of people would in all probability draw back from in his state of affairs — he has to face the fact of fixed scanning for cancers and issues that most individuals his age don’t have to consider. His willpower, his intelligence, and his work ethic are all clear. I can’t wait to observe him develop and grow to be an distinctive scientist. I’m simply joyful I acquired to be there for a little bit of it.”

Witkowski and Johnson work collectively.

Johnson says working with Witkowski and LaBarbera, and conducting analysis which will assist others with LFS, is a part of his drive to attempt new issues and expertise as a lot as he can of life whereas he is ready to.

“I believe I’ve a little bit of a special perspective than different folks my age,” he says. “I see the worth in each little factor, each expertise and each privilege that I’ve. I attempt to dwell with just a little extra positivity, figuring out that my days won’t be so long as everybody else’s. I wish to admire each second that I’ve.”