Bryan Bryson, PhD

Photo of Professor Bryan Bryson.

Email: 

Phone: 

617-258-7641
Associate Professor

Research-at-a-glance: 

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

Biography: 

Prof. Bryan Bryson obtained an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and a PhD in biological engineering at MIT. He then went on to pursue postdoctoral training with Sarah Fortune at the Harvard School of Public Health where he became interested in understanding how to leverage modern approaches in biological engineering to contribute to our understanding of tuberculosis pathogenesis.

Research: 

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: