Alan Brown, Ph.D.
- Title
- Assistant Professor
- Department
- Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology
- Institution
- Harvard Medical School
- Address
-
240 Longwood Ave.
C Building, 249A - City, State, ZIP
- Boston, MA 02115
- Phone
- 617-432-5289
- [email protected]
- Website
- https://brown.hms.harvard.edu/
- Research field
- Structural Biology; Cell Biology
- Award year
- 2019
Research
Our ability to see, hear, and smell are enabled by specialized structures called cilia, fingerlike extensions that protrude from the surface of cells involved in sensory perception. In the retina, cilia contain light-sensing proteins and the molecular machinery required to transmit light signals from the eye to the brain. These materials are ferried to their destination by large carrier proteins that select their cargo and then form trains that traverse the length of each cilium. Using an array of cutting-edge techniques in molecular genetics, biochemistry, proteomics, and electron microscopy, our lab aims to elucidate the structural basis by which carrier proteins select their cargoes and establish the signaling pathways needed to transmit light signals in the eye. This information will allow us to elucidate how mutations disable this transport system and lead to visual impairment—work that could lead to treatments that slow retinal deterioration or restore vision.
Scholar Keywords
2019 Search Pew Scholars
- Victoria Abraira, Ph.D.
- Frank Albert, Ph.D.
- Rudy Behnia, Ph.D.
- Gira Bhabha, Ph.D.
- Alan Brown, Ph.D.
- Eliezer Calo, Ph.D.
- Seemay Chou, Ph.D.
- Lillian Fritz-Laylin, Ph.D.
- Kelley Harris, Ph.D.
- Mazen Kheirbek, Ph.D.
- Philip Kranzusch, Ph.D.
- Kyle Loh, Ph.D.
- Marta Luksza, Ph.D.
- John Maciejowski, Ph.D.
- Jeffrey Moffitt, Ph.D.
- Noah Palm, Ph.D.
- Arthur Prindle, Ph.D.
- Caroline Runyan, Ph.D.
- Aaron Streets, Ph.D.
- Geetu Tuteja, Ph.D.
- John Tuthill, Ph.D.
- Xin Zhang, Ph.D.