Brittany Ross
Assistant Professor Biology- Education
Postdoctoral Fellow, Georgia Institute of Technology
Ph.D. Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Medical Branch
Bachelors of Science, Microbiology, University of California Riverside
- Specializations
Bacterial physiology, bioinformatics, dormancy, colony morphology transition.
- Biography
Dr. Ross earned her B.S. from the University of California, Riverside. Before pursuing her Ph.D., she worked as a laboratory technician at UCR, Where she studied how bacteria are transported from the gut lumen to immune dendritic cells via Peyer's Patches.
She also work at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), studying how Enterroaggregative E. coli serotype O104:H4 binds to intestinal cells. Dr. Ross completed her Ph.D. at the UTMB under the mentorship of Dr. Alfredo Torres, where she studied dormancy induction in Burkholderia psuedomallei through toxin-antitoxin systems and screened for anti-dormancy therapeutics.
She then joined Georgia Tech as a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Marvin Whiteley, focusing on Mycobacteroides abscessus (also known as Mycobacterium abscessus), a respiratory pathogen that can switch colony morphotypes in real-time, correlating with disease progression. Dr. Ross discovered that these morphotypes, despite being 99.999% genetically identical, require different genes for baseline functions and infection.
Research Interests
My lab utilizes bioinformatic and molecular approaches to understand the physiological differences between acute and chronic bacterial infections, focusing on how persistence and dormancy enable long-term survival. By targeting the distinct attributes of chronic or acute infections, we hope to develop novel treatment strategies.
- Publications
To read all my publications, please visit my Google Scholar page.
- Ross, BN, Evans, E., Whiteley M. Phenylacetic acid metabolic genes are associated with Mycobacteroides abscessus dominant circulating clone 1. Spectrum. 2024 In press
- Ross, BN, Whiteley, M. Ignoring social distancing: advances in understanding multi-species bacterial interactions. Fac Rev. 2020 Dec 14;9:23. doi: 10.12703/r/9-23. PMID: 33659955; PMCID: PMC7886066.
- Ross BN, Thiriot JD, Wilson SM, Torres AG. Predicting toxins found in toxin-antitoxin systems with a role in host-induced Burkholderia pseudomallei persistence. Sci Rep. 2020 Oct 9;10(1):16923. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-73887-3. PMID: 33037311; PMCID: PMC7547725.
- Ross, B. N., S. Micheva-Viteva, E. Hong-Geller & A. G. Torres (2019) Evaluating the role of Burkholderia pseudomallei K96243 toxins BPSS0390, BPSS0395, and BPSS1584 in persistent Infection. Cell Microbiol,
- Khakhum, N., Bharaj, P., Myers, J. N., Tapia, D., Kilgore, P. B., Ross, B. N., Walker, D. H., Endsley, J. J., Torres, A. G. (2019). Burkholderia pseudomallei ΔtonBΔhcp1 Live Attenuated Vaccine Strain Elicits Full Protective Immunity against Aerosolized Melioidosis Infection. mSphere, 4(1), e00570-18. doi:10.1128/mSphere.00570-18
- Micheva-Viteva, S. N., Ross, B. N., Gao, J., Adikari, S., Zhang, P., Mourant, J. R., Wu, T. H., Werner, J. H., Torres, A. G., Hong-Geller, E. (2018). Increased Mortality in Mice following Immunoprophylaxis Therapy with High Dosage of Nicotinamide in BurkholderiaPersistent Infections. Infection and immunity, 87(1), e00592-18. doi:10.1128/IAI.00592-18
- Ross BN, Myers JN, Muruato LA, Tapia D, Torres AG. 2018. Evaluating New Compounds to Treat Burkholderia pseudomallei Infections. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 8:210.
- Burtnick MN, Shaffer TL, Ross BN, Muruato LA, Sbrana E, DeShazer D, Torres AG, Brett PJ. 2017. Development of Subunit Vaccines that Provide High Level Protection and Sterilizing Immunity Against Acute Inhalational Melioidosis. Infect Immun IAI.00724-17.
- Pradenas, G.A.**, Ross, B.N**., Torres, A.G. Burkholderia cepacia complex Vaccines: Where do we go from here? Vaccines (Basel). 4: pii: E10; 2016. ** Equal contribution
- Tapia, D., Ross, B.N., Kalita, A., Kalita, M., Hatcher, C.L., Muruato, L.A., Torres, A.G. From in silico protein epitope density prediction to testing Escherichia coli O157:H7 Vaccine Candidates in a Murine Model of Colonization. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. 6: 94; 2016
- Ross BN, Rojas-Lopez M, Cieza RJ, McWilliams BD, Torres AG (2015) The Role of Long Polar Fimbriae in Escherichia coli O104:H4 Adhesion and Colonization. PLoS One 10: e0141845.
- Hu J, Ross BN, Cieza RJ, Torres AG (2015) Finding Regulators Associated with the Expression of the Long Polar Fimbriae in Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. J Bacteriol 197: 3658-3665.
- Cieza RJ, Hu J, Ross BN, Sbrana E, Torres AG (2015) The IbeA invasin of adherent-invasive Escherichia coli mediates interaction with intestinal epithelia and macrophages. Infect Immun 83: 1904-1918.
- Sakhon OS**, Ross B**, Gusti V, Pham AJ, Vu K, Lo DD (2015) M cell-derived vesicles suggest a unique pathway for trans-epithelial antigen delivery. Tissue Barriers 3: e1004975.
** Equal contribution