Bryan N. Brown, PhD

Associate Professor

P: 412-624-5273

brownb@upmc.edu

Brown Laboratory

The Brown Laboratory is an interdisciplinary team housed within the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The overarching mission of the Brown Laboratory is to couple a mechanistic understanding of the host inflammatory response in injury and disease with the development of context-dependent biomaterial-based strategies for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The focus of our current research is upon clinical applications where few effective solutions currently exist, with increasing emphasis upon unmet clinical needs in women’s health. Our laboratory is highly collaborative within the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine as well as a number of outside collaborations spanning basic science, engineering, medical and veterinary disciplines. Most of the ongoing projects within the Brown Laboratory combine basic science and immunology with engineering concepts towards the design, evaluation, and implementation of biomaterials in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine applications. Under the direction of Dr. Bryan Brown consists of approximately eight undergraduate students, six graduate students, two postdoctoral associates, a laboratory technician, and administrative staff. In addition, it is common to have one or more clinician-surgeons or veterinarian involved with each ongoing project. The capabilities of the Brown Laboratory span a full spectrum of bench-top science and pre-clinical models and we can support first-in-human and clinical studies through collaborations with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

Major Research Interests

• Macrophage Phenotype and Polarization • Host Response to Biomaterials • Extracellular Matrix Biomaterials • Injectable Hydrogels • Biomaterials Development • Tissue Engineering • Regenerative Medicine • Stem Cells • Preclinical Disease Models • Women’s Health • Veterinary Medicine • Clinical/Commercial Translation

Active Research Projects

• Assessment of the host response following mesh placement in pelvic organ prolapse • Investigation of macrophage phenotype in pathogenesis of endometriosis • Macrophage polarization and aging in the context of regenerative medicine • A regenerative medicine approach to TMJ meniscus restoration • Development of tissue specific hydrogels for peripheral nerve reconstruction • Exploratory study of the application of regenerative medicine to the equine airway