Patrick O. Brown

Administrative Appointments

• Board of Directors, Co-founder, Public Library of Science (2001 - present)
• Scientific Advisory Board, Canary Fund (2004 - present)
• Scientific Advisory Board, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (2000 - 2009)

Honors and Awards

• Award for Excellence in Molecular Diagnostics, Association for Molecular Pathology (2010)
• Member, Institute of Medicine (2009)
• Medal of Honor, American Cancer Society (2006)
• Curt Stern Award, American Society for Human Genetics (2005)
• Rave Award, WIRED Magazine (2004)

Professional Education

Postdoctoral Advisees

Charles Gawad,  Ariel Haimovich,  Liana Lareau,  Daniel Riordan

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

• Biochemistry
• Cancer Biology
• Molecular and Genetic Medicine

Community and International Work

• Public Library of Science, San Francisco & Cambridge England 

Internet Links

• Pat Brown's lab web site

Current Research Interests

Each cell in our bodies expresses a specific set of genes according to a precisely controlled genetic script that gives that cell its distinctive design and functional capabilities. The gene expression program that unfolds during a developmental or physiological or pathological process can be read as a kind of a script for that process.

Much of our research is directed at defining the gene expression scripts of the yeast and human genomes, understanding the logic and the molecular mechanisms that control them. These studies aim to provide a detailed picture of the rules and processes that govern expression of each gene. We are developing new genetic and biochemical approaches to systematically map out the regulatory circuitry that control that synthesis, processing, localization, translation and degradation of each gene’s transcripts. Our results thus far provide compelling evidence that post-transcriptional control plays a much richer and more important role in biological regulation than previously suspected.

We are characterizing the gene expression patterns in thousands of human cells and tissues under diverse conditions. These studies provide detailed molecular pictures of the programmed responses of the human genome to diverse physiological and pathological conditions, and clues to the mechanisms by which these processes are deranged in cancer and other diseases. We focus most of this effort in four areas:

1. Systematic investigation of the global program and molecular mechanisms of post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression in development, physiology and disease.

2. Defining the cellular and molecular composition of human tissue and tumor microenvironments; understanding how they influence the survival, proliferation, differentiation and physiology of normal and cancer cells.

3. Identifying patterns of gene expression that can be used to detect and precisely identify human cancers and predict their potential for progression or response to specific therapies.

4. Developing new strategies and technologies for diagnosis and early detection of cancer.

Clinical Trials

• Genetic & Pathological Studies of BRCA1/BRCA2: Associated Tumors & Blood Samples Recruiting
• Microarray Analysis of Gene Expression in Prostate Tissues Recruiting

Publications

• Circular RNAs Are the Predominant Transcript Isoform from Hundreds of Human Genes in Diverse Cell Types. Salzman J, Gawad C, Wang PL, Lacayo N, Brown PO. PLoS One. 2012; 7 (2): e30733
• Interferon and Biologic Signatures in Dermatomyositis Skin: Specificity and Heterogeneity across Diseases. Wong D, Kea B, Pesich R, Higgs BW, Zhu W, Brown P, Yao Y, Fiorentino D. PLoS One. 2012; 7 (1): e29161
• Widespread mRNA Association with Cytoskeletal Motor Proteins and Identification and Dynamics of Myosin-Associated mRNAs in S. cerevisiae. Casolari JM, Thompson MA, Salzman J, Champion LM, Moerner WE, Brown PO. PLoS One. 2012; 7 (2): e31912
• Defining the specificity of cotranslationally acting chaperones by systematic analysis of mRNAs associated with ribosome-nascent chain complexes. del Alamo M, Hogan DJ, Pechmann S, Albanese V, Brown PO, Frydman J. PLoS Biol. 2011; 9 (7): e1001100
• ESRRA-C11orf20 is a recurrent gene fusion in serous ovarian carcinoma. Salzman J, Marinelli RJ, Wang PL, Green AE, Nielsen JS, Nelson BH, Drescher CW, Brown PO. PLoS Biol. 2011; 9 (9): e1001156