Principal Investigator
Core Member
Ragon Institute of Mass General, MIT, and Harvard
Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering
MIT
(857) 268-7214
Room 1020
Research in the DeKosky lab focuses on developing and applying new techniques to understand the B and T cell responses that make up our adaptive immune memory. These efforts have been applied to better understand immune responses in the context of viral infections, autoimmunity, and cancer.
Research in the DeKosky lab has established a several new high-throughput single-cell platforms to interrogate adaptive immunity and discover improved precision drugs. We seek to reveal the quantitative principles of adaptive immune protection and advance new immune-based interventions against human diseases, with a focus on cancers and infectious pathogens including HIV-1, malaria, and SARS-CoV-2.
Dr. DeKosky was awarded both an NIH Early Independence Award and a K99 Pathway to Independence Award (declined) in 2016 to begin his independent research laboratory. He has also received the Department of Defense Career Development Award, the Biomedical Engineering Society Rising Star Award, and the AIChE Young Faculty Futures award.
Dr. DeKosky received a BS in chemical engineering from University of Kansas, and his PhD in biochemical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin was supported by a Hertz Foundation Graduate Fellowship, an NSF Graduate Fellowship, and a Donald. D. Harrington Graduate Fellowship. Dr. DeKosky was also a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Vaccine Research Center near Washington, D.C., where he worked on new ways to improve and analyze vaccine responses with a focus on major public health threats including HIV-1 and Zika virus. Brandon launched his independent academic career in 2017 at the University of Kansas in a joint position with the Department of Chemical Engineering, the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, and as a member of the Bioengineering graduate program. In 2021, Brandon began as an Assistant Professor in a joint faculty appointment between The Ragon Institute and MIT Chemical Engineering.
Bharat Madan*, Baoshan Zhang*, Kai Xu, Jacy Wolfe, Ahmed Fahad, Cara W. Chao, Gwo-Yu Chuang, Hui Geng, Rui Kong, Mark K. Louder, Sijy O’Dell, Reda Rawi, Rajanu Fnu, Tongqing Zhou, Thuy-Duong Nguyen, Arne Schon, Zizhang Sheng, Bob Lin, Nicole A. Doria-Rose, Lawrence Shapiro, Peter D. Kwong, Brandon J. DeKosky
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 118 (10) e2011653118, 2021. PubMed Read on Journal Site
Wen Shi Lee, Adam K. Wheatley, Stephen J. Kent*, Brandon J. DeKosky*
Nature Microbiology, 5: 1185–1191, 2020. PubMed Read on Journal Site
DeKosky BJ
Science, 369(6508): 1167-1168, 2020. PubMed Read on Journal Site
Wang B*, DeKosky BJ*, Timm MR, Lee J, Normandin E, Misasi J, Kong R, McDaniel JR, Delidakis G, Leigh KE, Niezold T, Choi CW, Viox EG, Fahad A, Cagigi A, Ploquin A, Leung K, Yang ES, Kong W-P, Voss WN, Schmidt AG, Moody MA, Ambrozak DR, Henry AR, Laboune F, Ledgerwood JE, Graham BS, Connors MR, Douek DC, Sullivan NJ, Ellington AD, Mascola JR**, Georgiou G**
Nature Biotechnology, 36: 152–155, 2018. PubMed Read on Journal Site
DeKosky BJ, Kojima T, Rodin A, Charab W, Ippolito GC, Ellington AD, Georgiou G
Nature Medicine, 21(1): 86-91, 2015. PubMed Read on Journal Site
DeKosky BJ, Ippolito GC, Deschner RP, Lavinder JJ, Wine Y, Rawlings BM, Varadarajan N, Giesecke C, Dörner T, Andrews SF, Wilson PC, Hunicke-Smith SP, Willson CG, Ellington AD, Georgiou G
Nature Biotechnology, 31(2): 166-169, 2013. PubMed Read on Journal Site
Though the Ragon Institute started by studying HIV, we quickly expanded to other global infectious diseases.
The study of HIV, a devastating epidemic affecting millions of people around the globe, was the Ragon Institute’s initial research program.
The best treatment for infectious diseases is prevention through effective vaccines.