Brett Lab

Mission

Using innovative approaches and cutting-edge technologies to develop safe and effective vaccines and therapeutics to combat bacterial infections.

Key areas of focus

  • Purification of bacterial polysaccharides and proteins.
  • Development of glycoconjugate-based subunit vaccines.
  • Characterization of immune responses against bacterial antigens.
  • Identification of correlates of vaccine-induced immunity.
  • Development of therapeutic antibodies using single cell sequencing and recombinant technologies.

Lab team

Paul Brett, Ph.D., professor of microbiology and immunology, specializes in elucidating the molecular mechanisms used by B. pseudomallei, the causative agent of melioidosis, to evade clearance by host defenses. In particular, he is interested in determining how the lipopolysaccharides and capsular polysaccharides expressed by this organism contribute to this process. The main goal of his research is to identify correlates of antigen-induced immunity against B. pseudomallei and use this information to develop safe, affordable and effective vaccines and therapeutics to combat melioidosis.

  • Paul Brett, Ph.D.: Principal Investigator
  • Sineenart Sengyee, Ph.D.: Research Assistant Professor
  • Federico Urbano-Munoz, M.S.: Staff Research Associate III

Notable research findings

  • Identified Burkholderia thailandensis as a new species.
  • Optimized strategies to purify and characterize polysaccharides from pathogenic Burkholderia species.
  • Developed capsular polysaccharide-based subunit vaccines for immunization against melioidosis.
  • Co-developed rapid, high-accuracy immunoassays to improve diagnosis of melioidosis.
Research Publications

Equipment, technology and techniques

  • 10x Genomics Chromium Controller
  • AKTA Pure and AKTA Go FPLC systems
  • Agilent 1260 Infinity II Bioinert HPLC system
  • MacsQuant 10 Flow Cytometer
  • Microfluidics Microfluidizer

Active grants and research projects

  1. Analysis of Bacterial Isolates and Tissue Specimens from Thai Melioidosis Patients.
    • Award: HDTRA1-21-C-0014
    • Funding organization: Defense Threat Reduction Agency
  2. Formulating and Evaluating Nanolipoprotein Particle-Based Multi-Pathogen Vaccines.
    • Award: DTRA 13081-38880
    • Funding organization: Lawrence Livermore National Labs/Defense Threat Reduction Agency
  3. Rapid Assessment of Platform Technologies to Expedite Response (RAPTER).
    • Award: HDTRA1242031
    • Funding organization: Los Alamos National Labs/Defense Threat Reduction Agency
  4. Optimization and Production of Single-Shot Vaccines for Melioidosis and Glanders.
    • Award: HDTRA123C0009
    • Funding organization: VitriVax/Defense Threat Reduction Agency
  5. Encapsulation of Vaccine Candidates for Single-Shot Immunization and Vaccine Stability.
    • Award: MCDC2206-008
    • Funding organization: University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center/Medical CBRN Defense Consortium