Christopher Byron Brooke, Ph.D., is a professor of microbiology in the School of Molecular & Cellular Biology and has affiliations with the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, and most recently, the Interdisciplinary Health Sciences Institute.
Research in the Brooke Lab is primarily focused on understanding how ribonucleic acid (RNA) viruses (especially influenza viruses) replicate, transmit, evolve, and cause disease. This information is critical for expanding our fundamental understanding of viral infection and for informing the development of next-generation vaccines and therapeutics.
Professor Brooke worked closely with IHSI in Illinois’ response to SARS-CoV-2, as part of the team that developed a saliva-based testing method that bypasses the need for RNA isolation/purification, and on his research examining the efficacy of different testing protocols.
Prof. Brooke’s team has also worked closely with the Illinois REDCap team to build a custom database for his “FLUDetect” study with the support of the National Institutes of Health and Flu Lab. The FLUdetect study uses frequent screening to identify community-acquired respiratory infections during the early stages of infection. They then capture daily samples to generate a high-resolution of viral shedding and immune dynamics over the course of infection. These data will hopefully identify new immune correlates of viral transmission risk that can guide next-generation vaccine design.
Prof. Brooke also participated in the inaugural cohort IHSI’s Emerging Research Leaders Academy to develop the tools he might need to pursue large, multi-PI grants, lead campus research initiatives, more effectively mentor his students, and to more generally enhance his research program.
Can you describe a goal you are currently pursuing?
One research goal that I am currently pursuing to identifying immune correlates of respiratory virus transmission risk in humans. This is a critically important knowledge gap for designing and evaluating vaccines that are more effective at stopping viral transmission within the community. We are currently pursuing this goal through a clinical study we are running out of the IGB called FLUdetect that is designed to generate high resolution quantitative profiles of viral shedding and immune system dynamics over the course of infection with naturally acquired respiratory viruses like influenza virus.
How has the focus of your research changed or evolved since you first started in the field?
My background is in basic research, but the pandemic pushed me to expand beyond model systems to better understand the biology of viral infection and immunity in humans. We are still doing a lot of basic biology in my lab but we are working harder to bridge that basic research with translational and applied applications.
How is most of your research funded? Do you have any advice for working with these sponsors?
Most of our work is funded through National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). We are also funded through a private organization called Flu Lab, and have previously received funding through The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), and the Carver Trust. Any advice I would have about how to work with these sponsors has been completely blown up by the new administration’s aggressive ongoing disruption of the federal research funding environment.
What is something you want your colleagues to know about you or your research?
We are building a really unique cohort in which we are collecting longitudinal samples and symptom data for a variety of common respiratory viruses. Anyone working on issues connected to human respiratory viruses and interested in potentially collaborating should reach out.