By Candace Gwaltney
August 30, 2023
Cancer center names first Agnes Beaudry Investigator in Myeloma Research
The Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center has named Travis S. Johnson, Ph.D., the inaugural Agnes Beaudry Investigator in Myeloma Research.
The Agnes Beaudry Investigator in Myeloma Research was established through a nearly $1 million estate gift from James Beaudry, Ph.D., to honor the memory of his wife Agnes Beaudry, Ph.D. Beaudry became a patient of Rafat Abonour, M.D., after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a rare blood disease. She died at age 74 in November 2007.
“Jim Beaudry was an amazing, generous man, and I was privileged to call him my friend. He and Agnes both cared so much about supporting young people. It is so fitting that he created a legacy for Agnes by supporting scientists who are just starting their careers in cancer research,” Abonour said.
The Beaudry investigator supports a professorship for a junior faculty member focused on myeloma research at the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. Johnson will hold this appointment for three to five years, and then a new recipient will be named.
“It is an honor and privilege to be the first to hold this prestigious title, and I am grateful for the legacy of Agnes and James Beaudry. I am dedicated to furthering our understanding of myeloma and to improve the outcomes for patients fighting this deadly disease,” Johnson said.
In addition to being the Beaudry investigator, Johnson is an assistant professor of biostatistics and health data science at IU School of Medicine and a member of the Experimental and Developmental Therapeutics research program at IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Currently, Johnson’s work focuses on discerning which types of myeloma tumor cells cause the highest risk of disease progression and death for myeloma patients and which immune cells are the most capable of detecting these “worst of the worst” cancer cells.
As a bioinformatician, Johnson is developing ways to analyze data sets generated from sequencing hundreds of patient samples. While each myeloma patient is unique and has various types of tumor and immune cells, researchers like Johnson don’t know which high-resolution subtypes of these cells are responsible for various behaviors, including tumor growth, recurrence or drug resistance.
Using newly developed software, Johnson aims to answer questions about individual patient response to treatment and survival. He aims to organize and interpret the data to learn new insights and eventually improve patient outcomes.
“My research is focused on developing state-of-the-art machine learning techniques to identify which populations of cells cause recurrence. Only with novel approaches can we leverage the current data-rich environment and ultimately find the best treatments for patients harboring high-risk populations of cells,” Johnson said.
About James and Agnes Beaudry
James and Agnes Beaudry were dedicated academicians who each taught French at Indiana universities. The couple resided in Plainfield, Ind.
Agnes Beaudry (1932-2007) taught French for 31 years at DePauw University before retiring in 1998. She was a recipient of a Fulbright Grant, and she earned a doctorate in French from the University of Illinois.
James Beaudry (1927-2022) was an assistant professor of French at IUPUI. In 2020, he was presented the Bicentennial Medal for his distinguished contributions to IU. James and Agnes Beaudry supported IUPUI foreign language students by establishing the Beaudry Scholarship for Prospective French Teachers to allow students to study their craft in French universities.
