Rate My Professor Patrick Casey

Patrick Casey is the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology at Duke University School of Medicine. He holds additional appointments as Professor of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology since 1999, Professor of Biochemistry since 1999, and Member of the Duke Cancer Institute since 1990. Casey earned a B.A. in Biology and Chemistry from Augustana College and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Brandeis University in 1986, followed by postdoctoral training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center from 1986 to 1990. He joined the Duke University Medical Center in 1990 as an Assistant Professor in the departments of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology and Biochemistry, was promoted to Associate Professor in 1995, and to Full Professor in 1999. In 2002, he received the James B. Duke Professorship. Casey served as the founding Director of the Duke Center for Chemical Biology and helped establish the University Program in Molecular Cancer Biology for graduate and postdoctoral training.

Casey's research specializes in transmembrane signaling through G proteins, with emphasis on protein prenylation by isoprenoid lipids, its role in membrane targeting and oncogenic transformation of Ras proteins, and enzymes such as protein farnesyltransferase and geranylgeranyltransferase as anti-cancer targets. He has also investigated Gz signaling in pancreatic beta-cell function and G12 proteins in cancer metastasis. Key publications include "Protein prenylation: molecular mechanisms and functional consequences" (Annual Review of Biochemistry, 1996), "p21ras is modified by a farnesyl isoprenoid" (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 1989), "Protein prenyltransferases" (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 1996), "Protein lipidation in cell signaling" (Science, 1995), and "Inhibition of purified p21ras farnesyl-protein transferase by Cys-AAX tetrapeptides" (Cell, 1990). These works have been highly influential in the field. In 2005, Casey co-founded Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore as Vice Dean for Research and later Senior Vice Dean until 2023, developing signature research programs in cancer and stem cell biology, neuroscience, and other areas, along with a Ph.D. program in Integrated Biology and Medicine. His honors include the American Heart Association Established Investigator Award (1992), Amgen Award from the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2000), election as AAAS Fellow (2012), Duke Medical Alumni Distinguished Faculty Award (2018), and Singapore Public Administration Medal (Silver, 2020). He holds nine patents and has mentored numerous trainees who lead in academia and industry.