Dr. Michael Blanton - Faculty Page
Michael P. Blanton, Ph.D., is an Associate Vice-President for Research (TTUHSC), Senior Associate Dean and M.D./Ph.D. Program Director for the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS), and University Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, Lubbock, Texas. Dr. Blanton received his B.A. degree (with honors) in 1983 and his Ph.D. in Biology/Biochemistry from the University of California, Santa Cruz in 1989. Afterwards, he pursued postdoctoral fellowship research training at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri and Harvard Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts. In 1995, Dr. Blanton joined the Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience in the School of Medicine (TTUHSC) as a tenure-track Assistant Professor, earning the rank of tenured Professor in 2009.
Over the past 28 years at TTUHSC, Dr. Blanton has been engaged in research focused on understanding the structure/function of human neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, in particular the a4b2 nAChR. These ligand gated ion channels (LGICs) play a critical role in synaptic transmission in the central nervous system and are implicated in many physiological and pathophysiological conditions including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease, epilepsy, and psychiatric disorders. The a4b2 nAChR is a key target for nicotine dependence (i.e. cigarette smoking), and a major focus of the Blanton lab has been to obtain a better understanding of this receptor protein so that more effective smoking cessation agents can be developed. Commensurate with this objective the Blanton lab has been funded over the years by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders (NINDS, NIH) and by the American Heart Association, as well as other funding sources. Besides serving on journal editorial boards (JBC, Current Molecular Pharmacology, etc.), grant review panels (NIH, AHA, etc.), publishing 47 high impact research papers (h-index 26; i10 index 44), providing 27 invited national/international lectures, Dr. Blanton is perhaps most proud of having mentored and trained to date 5 PhD students as well as dozens of undergraduates, medical students, and postdoctoral fellows; etc. In connection with his research interest, Dr. Blanton has also had the honor of serving as a Co-director of the TTUHSC SOM Center for Membrane Protein Research (CMPR) from 2015-2020.
In the past fifteen years, Dr. Blanton has become increasingly engaged in the administration of the TTUHSC: First, serving as Senior Associate Dean and MD/PhD Program Director in the graduate school (2008-present). During this time, the graduate school has undergone several rounds of restructuring while student enrollment in both the MD/PhD program and the GSBS overall has more than tripled. With the addition of new programs (Public Health) and the expansion of current programs, Dr. Blanton has truly enjoyed helping to manage this exciting growth, in both the student numbers and quality of the programs. Secondly and more recently (2018-present) serving as Associate Vice-President for Research, Dr. Blanton has helped manage the research integrity office, promoted research growth, and spearheaded efforts to develop an Office of Postdoctoral Affairs among other initiatives.
Finally, as a strong proponent of the philosophy that a tenure-track faculty member should be engaged in research/scholarship, service, and teaching, Dr. Blanton has continued to participate in both graduate and medical teaching for his entire 28 years at TTUHSC. In the past six years he has also become increasingly involved in the administration of the medical curriculum serving as block director (MOS, OS4) and participating in curriculum committees. Given that Dr. Blanton does not consider himself a natural teacher (focusing instead on preparation and persistence) he is therefore very proud of the teaching awards he has received as well being invited into the School of Medicine Teaching Academy.