Dr. Brian Brown on Breakthrough Applications of mRNA Technology
Join us on Friday, June 4, 2021 as Dr. Brian Brown, one of the leading scientists in the field of mRNA-induced immunity examines the implications and realities of this exciting new scientific domain. RSVP here.
Just 15 months ago, most people had never heard of Messenger RNA (mRNA). Today 132 million Americans are fully vaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 thanks to breakthrough applications of mRNA technology. After more than 25 years of research, scientists now say we are on the verge of the most dramatic change to vaccine creation since cow viruses were first used two centuries ago.
Immunologist and molecular biologist Dr. Brian Brown has spent over 20 years working at the intersection of gene therapy and immunity, including with the leaders who invented the adenoviral vector that's become the backbone of the J&J and Astrazeneca vaccines.
On Friday June 4, Dr. Brown will present a Dent @ Home talk where he will discuss how mRNA technology emerged as the leading basis for COVID and other new vaccines, and he will explore the ways other next generation technologies are being developed to ‘hack’ the immune system to treat a broad range of diseases.
Dr. Brown’s research career spans immune oncology, molecular immunology, microRNA biology, and genetic engineering. His training began with doctoral studies in Canada where he worked to establish ways to overcome the immune response hindering gene therapy. He subsequently did his postdoctoral studies in Italy where he helped develop a new platform for controlling gene expression, which has led to improvements in experimental treatments for genetic disease, cancer, and viral infection. Dr. Brown’s lab is now working to identify the factors that control immunity and tolerance, and translate these findings into strategies that can be used to turn the immune system against cancer or viruses.
He is the Associate Director of the Precision Immunology Institute (PrIISM), acting Director of the Icahn Genomics Institute, and a Professor of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.