Prof. Bryan Bryson

Mycobacterium tuberculosis remains one of the world’s most deadly bacteria resulting in infection in nearly a third of the global population and millions of deaths per year. Recent advances in our understanding of tuberculosis infection demonstrate that infection within a given individual is highly heterogeneous; however, the determinants that drive lesions towards complete bacterial sterilization remain poorly understood. We are interested in developing new tools to dissect the complex dynamics of bacterial infection at a variety of scales ranging from single cells to infected animals sitting in both “reference frames” by taking both an immunologist’s and a microbiologist's perspective. Combining new technologies with classical approaches, we are focused on answering a critical question: “how can we manipulate the immune system to improve bacterial control?”

RESEARCH AREAS:
Understanding and Predicting the Host and Bacterial Determinants of Bacterial Fate
Developing Novel Tools to Interrogate Bacterium: Host Interactions with Single Cell Resolution
Reprogramming the Innate Immune System to Improve Bacterial Control Through Systematic Dissection of Innate Response Pathways