Brian Geisbrecht

Dr. Geisbrecht's laboratory is focused on understanding the structure, function, and mechanism of innate immune evasion proteins expressed by pathogenic bacteria as well as blood-feeding insect species. Working both independently and collaboratively, his group has helped uncover numerous new modes of inhibiting key enzymes required for proper functioning of the early innate immune system, particularly the complement system and neutrophils. Dr. Geisbrecht's long-term goal is to provide the basic science foundation needed to translate structural and mechanistic understanding of the early innate immune system into new types of anti-inflammatory therapies. He also seeks to use the information gained from studies of innate immune evasion proteins to better understand the biochemical basis behind the host species tropism of pathogens. Dr. Geisbrecht's group uses a combination of structural, biochemical, and informatics approaches to achieve their research goals.