Brian D. Brown, PhD, Professor, Genetics and Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Dr. Brown trained in molecular and cellular biology with a strong focus on immunology and translational medicine. He completed his doctoral studies in Canada, including work to overcome the immune response that hinders gene therapy. He completed his postdoctoral studies in Italy, where he helped develop a new platform for controlling gene expression. This led to new experimental treatment approaches for genetic disease, cancer, and viral infections. In 2008 Dr. Brown joined the faculty of Mount Sinai as an assistant professor, and he was promoted to full professor with tenure in 2018. In 2016 he became the Associate Director of Mount Sinai’s Immunology Institute. His research topics include Autoimmunity, Cancer, Gene Regulation, Gene Therapy, Gene Editing, Genomics, Inflammation, Immunology, Immunotherapy, Molecular Biology, and Stem Cells.
Dr. Brown and the scientists in his lab are working to identify factors that control immunity and tolerance and to develop strategies to turn the immune system against cancer.
Asked about his views on diversity in his lab, he replies that science and medicine are seeking solutions to tremendous challenges, like how to cure cancer, and the only way to find the best solutions is to recruit the brightest and most creative people. This means being inclusive of people from different backgrounds and communities from all over the world.
“I’m a true believer that when we increase the talent pool to include people from diverse backgrounds, we will open up the potential for radically creative thinking, which will result in more solutions,” he says. “There are brilliant people everywhere, and we need to recruit them to science and nurture their talents.”
Evenly balanced between men and women, Dr. Brown’s lab includes scientists from Korea, Turkey, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Poland, Nigeria, the Dominican Republic, and France, as well as the United States and Canada.
The diversity of backgrounds and thinking has translated into a lab that intertwines a broad array of disciplines, such as immunology, molecular biology, genetic engineering, and bioinformatics, and includes scientists working to create new technologies as well as others who are using those technologies to answer important biomedical questions and develop novel therapeutics.
“I want the team to feel supported and free to be who they are and I think we have created a culture here where differences are respected and valued.”
For example, a postdoctoral fellow from Turkey, Gurkan Mollaoglu, PhD, joined the Brown lab to work on a project using technology the lab developed known as the Just EGFP Death-Inducing T-cell, or JEDI T-cell. This technology enables visualization of T-cell antigens, allowing researchers to study T-cell interactions with different cell types, model disease states, and determine the functions of otherwise poorly characterized cell populations. Dr. Mollaoglu is using the JEDI technology for basic immunology studies which will identify genes and pathways used by lung cancer to evade the immune system. These findings can then be translated into therapies using approaches being developed by others in the lab.
“By welcoming scientists who want to work on the technologies we have developed, we are both advancing the technology and its potential in translational medicine,” Dr. Brown says.
Another example is a new technology developed by scientists in Dr. Brown’s lab that helps address the challenge of analyzing the genome at scale. The research is led by postdoctoral fellows Aleksandra Wroblewska, PhD, and Maxime Dhainaut, PhD, from Poland and Belgium, respectively. They created a novel tool to barcode and track different CRISPRs using synthetic proteins. The protein barcodes, referred to as Pro-Codes, enable hundreds of CRISPRs to be used together to knock out a multitude of genes.
Existing technologies for pooling CRISPRs rely heavily on DNA as a barcode and permit only a low-resolution look into gene function. Through the Pro-Code technology, the researchers established a way for scientists to more comprehensively characterize the biological effects of a gene and identify genes required for the immune system to eliminate cancer cells.
Amid the environment of advanced scientific inquiry and technology development, Dr. Brown fosters support and respect through open communication.
“My team understands that I support diversity and opening up opportunities across borders,” he says. “I want the team to feel supported and free to be who they are and I think we have created a culture here where differences are respected and valued.”
Dr. Brown also serves on the Diversity Council of both Mount Sinai’s Precision Immunology Institute and The Tisch Cancer Institute. “I’m privileged to help Mount Sinai foster an environment that is open and accepting to everyone,” he says.
Photo Credit: Claudia Paul, January-February 2020