Chris Brown
Assistant Professor
College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences
Post Doctoral Fellow University of Pennsylvania; Post Doctoral Fellow Vanderbilt University Medical Center; PhD (Pharmacology) Vanderbilt University; BS (Microbiology) Auburn University
Location: McWhorter Hall 315
615-460-5681chris.brown@belmont.edu
Biography
Dr. Brown joined the faculty at Belmont University in 2017. His primary teaching assignments are in the areas of pharmacology/pharmacodynamics, anatomy and physiology, and immunology and infectious diseases. Dr. Brown also has a longstanding interest in issues surrounding the end-of-life care for patients, offering an elective course in this area. Dr. Brown has a strong interest in helping students to expand and deepen their knowledge of scientific fields ranging from immunology and infectious diseases to stem cells and cardiovascular development.
Dr. Brown received his B.S. in Microbiology from Auburn University, and Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Vanderbilt University. He completed advanced post-doctoral fellowships and Vanderbilt and the University of Pennsylvania. His long-standing interests in Developmental Biology and the signal transduction pathways that regulate embryonic establishment of the heart valves and vasculature using chicken and transgenic mouse systems led him to establish his own laboratory at Vanderbilt University Medical center in 2003. From 2003 through 2016, Dr. Brown served as faculty member in Pediatric Cardiology at VUMC/Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital running his own laboratory and the laboratory of the Chief of Pediatrics, overseeing the training and education of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. In 2017 he was excited by the opportunity to join the faculty of Belmont University School of Pharmacy to share his love of science with Belmont Pharmacy students.
Dr. Brown’s current research interests focus on the mechanisms whereby medications, such as nuclear transport inhibitors, can have unintended adverse effects on differentiation of cardiovascular lineages from stem cells, potentially leading to embryo toxicity. He uses mouse embryonic stem cells and lineage specific human cells as model systems to study the molecular pathways leading adverse drug effects during differentiation and/or function of endothelial and myocardial lineages. Dr. Brown offers research opportunities to Pharmacy students either as a research elective, Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience (APPE) or research volunteers.
View Dr. Brown's CV
Cardiovascular development
Stem cell differentiation
Development and regulation of endothelial cell populations
Transforming growth factor Beta signal transduction
Semaphorin Signal transduction
AACP (American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy)
Chen J, Ryzhova LM, Sewell-Loftin MK, Brown CB, Huppert SS, Baldwin HS, Merryman WD. Notch1 mutation leads to valvular calcification through enhanced myofibroblast mechanotransduction. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2015 May 28
Hill CR, Jacobs BH, Brown CB, Barnett JV, Goudy SL. Type III transforming growth factor beta receptor regulates vascular and osteoblast development during palatogenesis. Dev. Dyn. 2015 Feb:244(2): 122-123.
Sewell-Lofton MK, Delaughter DM, Peacock JR, Brown CB, Baldwin HS, Barnett, JV, Merryman WD. Myocardial contraction and hyaluronic acid mechanotransduction in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transformation of endocardial cells. Biomaterials. 2014 Mar; 35(9) 2809-15.
Sewell-Loftin, M.K., Brown, C.B., Baldwin, H.S., Merryman, D.W. Novel technique for quantifying mouse heart valve leaflet stiffness with atomic force microscopy. J. Valv. Dis. 2012 Jul;21(4):513-20.
Hill CR, Sanchez NS, Love JD, Arieta JH, Hong CC, Brown CB, Austin AF, Barnett JV. BMP2 signals loss of epithelial character in epicardial cels but requires the Type III TgfB receptor to promote invasion. Cell Signal. 2012 May;24(5):1012-22.
Humphreys R, Zheng W, Prince LS, Qu X, Brown C, Loomes K, Huppert S, Baldwin HS, Goudy S. Cranial neural crest ablation of Jagged1 recapitulates the craniofacial phenotype of Alagille syndrome patients. Hum. Mol. Genetics. 2011 21(6), 1374-1383.
Sánchez NS, Hill CR, Love JD, Soslow JH, Craig E, Austin AF, Brown CB, Czirok A, Camenisch TD, Barnett JV. The cytoplasmic domain of TGFβR3 through its interaction with the scaffolding protein, GIPC, directs epicardial cell behavior. Dev Biol. 2011 Oct 15;358(2):331-343.
Angel PM, Nusinow D, Brown CB, Violette K, Barnett JV, Zhang B, Baldwin HS, Caprioli RM. Networked-based characterization of extracellular matrix proteins from adult mouse pulmonary and aortic valves. J Proteome Res. 10(2):812-23. 2011
Nie X, Brown CB, Wang Q, Jiao K. Inactivation of Bmp4 from the Tbx1 expression domain causes abnormal pharyngeal arch artery and cardiac outflow tract remodeling. Cells Tissues Organs. 193(6):393-403. 2011.
Goudy, S., Law, A. Sanchez, G, Baldwin HS. and Brown, C.B. Tbx1 is Necessary for Palatal Elongation and Elevation. Mech Dev.127(5-6):292-300. 2010
Levin, M.D., Lu, M-M, Petrenko, N.B., Hawkins, B.J., Gupta, T.H., Lang, D., Buckley, P.T., Jochems, J.J., Liu, F., Spurney, C.F., Yuan, l.J., Jacobson, J.T., Brown, C.B., Huang, L., Beermann, F., Margulies, K.B., Muniswamy, M., Eberwine, J.H., Epstein, J.A., Patel, V.V. Melanocyte-like cells in the heart and pulmonary veins contribute to atrial arrhythmia triggers. JCI, 119(11) 3420-3436. 2009
Austin, A.F., Compton, L.A., Love, J.D., Brown, C.B. and Barnett, J.V. Primary and Immortalized Mouse Epicardial Cells Undergo Differentiation in Response to TgfB. Dev. Dyn. 237:366-376 , 2008.
Porras, D., Brown, C.B. Temporal-Spatial Ablation of Neural Crest in the Mouse Results in Cardiovascular Defects. Developmental Dynamics. 237:153-162, 2008
1R01 HL118386-01 Baldwin (PI) 6/01/2013- 12/31/2016
NIH / NHLBI
"TIE TEK Modulation of Cardiac Development"
The goal of this project is to understand how the receptor tyrosine kinases Tie and Tek regulate endocardial growth and cardiovascular development.
Role: Co-Investigator
1R01 HL-115103-01A1 Merryman (PI) 07/01/2013-12/31/2016
NIH/ NHLBI
"Serotonergic Receptor Targeted Therapy for Degenerative Aortic Valve Disease"
The goal of this project is to understand how serotonergic signaling through the 5HT-2B receptor mediates the dysmorphology and calcification of the aortic valve during development and disease.
Role: Co-Investigator
1U01 HL100398-01 Hatzopoulos (PI) 9/30/2009 - 6/30/2016
NIH / NHLBI
"Optimizing Cardiovascular Stem Cells for Cardiac Repair and Regeneration"
Role: Co-Investigator
NIH P30 ES000267 04/01/2012 - 03/31/2013
Center in Molecular Toxicology Pilot Project
" NFATc1, a Potential Mediator of TCDD Induced Developmental Vascular Defects"
Role: Co-Investigator
U54 RR 024358 Maas (PI) 09/30/2007-06/30/2012
NIH [1RL1 HL092551]
"Syscode:Systems based Consortium of Organ Design and Engineering"
Multi-institutional (Harvard, MIT, Vanderbilt) program for organ design
Project 3 "Heart Valve Design and Engineering"
Role: Collaborator
R01 HL085708 Barnett, (PI) 02/01/2008-01/31/2012
NIH/NHLBI
"Type III transforming growth factor beta receptor in coronary vessel development"
Role of growth factor signaling in coronary development
Role: Co-Investigator
5P30 DK079341-02 Harris (PI) 09/01/2008 - 08/30/2013
NIH / NIDDK
Vanderbilt O'Brien Mouse Kidney Physiology and Disease Center
“Modulation of renal ischemia reperfusion injury by NFAT
Role: Co-Investigator
5R01 HL086964-02 Baldwin (PI) 07/01/2008 - 5/31/2012 NIH / NHLBI
"The Role of NDRG4 in Myocardial Development"
Role: Co-Investigator
Predoctoral fellowship Mundell 07/01/2006-6/30/2008
American Heart Association
"Semaphorin Regulation of Cardiac Neural Crest Development"
"To determine the mechanism of Semaphorin 3C Regulation of Cardiac Neural Crest Cell Function."
Role: Pre-doctoral sponsor
F32 HL082101 Diego Porras MD 07/19/2005-7/18/2007
NIH/NHLBI (NRSA)
"The Secondary Heart Field in Outflow Tract Remodeling"
To determine the contribution of Tbx1 expressing cells to outflow tract development and remodeling.
Role: Post-doctoral sponsor
Scientist Development Grant(0430085N) 1/01/2004-12/31/2007
American Heart Association
"Tbx1 Regulation of Cardiovascular Development and Morphogenesis"
To determine the cell-autonomous and cell non-autonomous functions of Tbx1 in patterning and morphogenesis of the cardiovascular system.
Role: PI
Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Award 02/01/2005-12/31/07
March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation
"Semaphorin 3C Signaling in Cardiac Neural Crest Development"
"To determine the role of Semaphorin 3C signaling in the cardiac neural crest during pharyngeal arch and conotruncal patterning in the mouse."
Role:PI
F32 AR08584-03 Brown (PI) 02/01/2000-1/31/2003
NIH/NIAMS NRSA
"Somite specific expression of Pax3 in transgenic mice."
"To determine the molecular regulation of Pax3 expression in the somite and muscle precursors."
Role: PI