Patrick was born in Hong Kong and earned his doctoral degree from Oxford University. After a postdoctoral fellowship with Louise and Satya Prakash at the University of Rochester, Patrick established his laboratory in 1993 at UT Medical Branch, Galveston. Since then, he maintained a strong commitment toward understanding how eukaryotes engage homologous recombination (HR) as tool in eliminating DNA breaks. The efficiency of HR catalyzed by the RAD51 recombinase is regulated by the tumor suppressors BRCA1 and BRCA2, providing evidence for a key role of HR in cancer avoidance. His lab’s findings have appeared in journals such as Cell, Genes and Development, Nature, and Science. Patrick has played a leading role in teaching, advising, and mentoring students and fellows. He served on various NIH study sections, on the editorial board of various journals including Genes and Development (since 2002), and as an Editor or Associate Editor of Molecular & Cellular Biology (from 2000-2008) and The Journal of Biological Chemistry (since 2014). Patrick was elected into the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering while a faculty at Yale University, where he also served as Chair of Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry for six years. Patrick was recruited to UT Health San Antonio in 2019 as a Professor of Biochemistry and Structural Biology and an Established Investigator of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). Patrick also holds the Robert A Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry, and is the recipient of an Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute.