ALAN W. PARTIN, M.D., Ph.D., was a urologist-in-chief and director emeritus of The Brady Urological Institute.
Born in Grenada, Mississippi, and valedictorian of his high school class, Dr. Partin embarked upon his academic path at the University of Mississippi. An exceptional collegiate athlete, he played offensive lineman, earning two varsity letters, academic all-SEC honors, and the National Football Foundation’s University of Mississippi Chapter Scholar-Athlete Award. Dr. Partin graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in chemistry (1983). He then came north to earn his Ph.D. in pharmacology and molecular science (1988) and his M.D. (1989) from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
While a medical student learning patient care under Dr. Patrick Walsh, the young Dr. Partin developed a research interest in prostate cancer; he was particularly intrigued by the need to discover a way to measure the degree of damage inflicted on a prostate by a tumor. First published in 1989, this early research led to a seminal contribution, the Partin Tables, which remain the global gold standard for prostate cancer diagnosis. The Partin Tables have been used since 1993 to help provide prostate cancer patients with an accurate prediction of their likelihood of cure.
Over his three decades-long career, the Partin laboratories investigated multiple new “PSA-like” serum, urine, and tissue tests, many of which have subsequently gained FDA approval for clinical use. He also pursued the basic science of novel proteins which can help detect and stage prostate cancer.
Dr. Partin was named one of America’s Top Doctors for cancer and Top Doctor in the Baltimore and Washington areas several times by Castle and Connolly. His research accolades include: the Ambrose Monell Research Award, David Koch Prostate Cancer Research Award, American Urological Association Gold-Cystoscope, and the Merck Young Investigator Award. He helped advance the fields of urology and prostate cancer through more than 600 scientific articles, publications, and presentations.
Dr. Partin passed away on March 28, 2023. He is survived by his wife, Vicky Partin, their four children, Topper, David, Dane and Michael, and several grandchildren.
Held by Jun Luo
JUN LUO, Ph.D., is the inaugural recipient of the Alan W. Partin, M.D., Ph.D. Professorship in Urology. Dr. Luo is a professor of urology and oncology at the Johns Hopkins Brady Urological Institute. He also serves as the assistant director of research for the department. Dr. Luo has served on many peer review committees for funding agencies, including the American Cancer Society, American Association of Cancer Research, U.S. Department of Defense, and the National Institutes of Health. He has received three Prostate Cancer Foundation Challenge Awards and is a member of the National Cancer Institute Prostate Cancer Task Force. He is on editorial boards for three urology- and prostate-focused scientific journals. Dr. Luo has published over 100 articles on prostate cancer and is the lead inventor of three prostate cancer biomarker patents held by the Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Luo discovered alternately spliced versions of the androgen receptor (AR) that is implicated in castration-resistant prostate cancer, including AR-V7. He led multidisciplinary studies developing, validating, and implementing (in the clinic) a noninvasive AR-V7 test for the purpose of predicting response and resistance to systemic therapies. As a basic scientist focusing on translational/clinical studies of prostate cancer, Dr. Luo has published high-impact original articles in the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, JAMA Oncology, Annals of Oncology, and European Urology. He continues to focus on genetic and genomic studies of liquid and tissue biopsies, development of testing platforms including molecular and cellular assays, as well as biomarker-driven clinical trials aimed at developing new agents for advanced prostate cancer. In addition, multiple ongoing studies in his laboratory are designed to address the disproportionate burden of prostate cancer in Black men using noninvasive early detection methods.
Dr. Luo graduated with a B.S. in biology from Nanjing University and received a Ph.D. in anatomy and cell biology from the University of Iowa. His Ph.D. training under the mentorship of Dr. Mary J.C. Hendrix at the University of Iowa focused on the biology of prostate cancer invasion and metastasis, and his subsequent postdoctoral training with Dr. William Isaacs at the Brady focused on prostate cancer genomics. While working as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Isaacs, he concurrently worked as a guest researcher at the National Human Genome Research Institute (Bethesda, Maryland) where he conducted one of the first high-density expression microarray studies on prostate cancer.
ALAN W. PARTIN, M.D., Ph.D., was a urologist-in-chief and director emeritus of The Brady Urological Institute.