Brian C. Russo, PhD

  • Postdoctoral Fellow

Why did you choose the University of Pittsburgh?

I chose the University of Pittsburgh because there was a diverse faculty with interesting research projects. There were many core facilities that would be able to enhance the research, such as the Center for Biological Imaging and the Regional Biocontainment Laboratory. The city of Pittsburgh seemed like a great place to live on the graduate student stipend.

After his graduation, Brian accepted a position as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Marcia Goldberg at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Education & Training

  • PhD in Molecular Virology and Microbiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, 2013
  • MA in Biotechnology, Boston University, 2008
  • BA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Boston University, 2008

Publications

Schmitt DM, O'Dee DM, Horzempa J, Carlson PE Jr, Russo BC, Bales JM, Brown MJ and Nau GJ. 2012. A Francisella tularensis Live Vaccine Strain That Improves Stimulation of Antigen-Presenting Cells Does Not Enhance Vaccine Efficacy. PLoS One. 7: e31172 |  View abstract

Russo BC, Horzempa J, O'Dee DM, Schmitt DM, Brown MJ, Carlson PE Jr, Xavier RJ and Nau GJ. 2011. A Francisella tularensis locus required for spermine responsiveness is necessary for virulence. Infect Immun. 79: 3665-3676. |  View abstract

Horzempa J, Shanks RM, Brown MJ, Russo BC, O'Dee DM and Nau GJ. 2010. Utilization of an unstable plasmid and the I-SceI endonuclease to generate routine markerless deletion mutants in Francisella tularensis. J Microbiol Methods. 80: 106-108. |  View abstract