Kevin D. Brown, Associate Professor at Biochemistry UF

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Kevin D. Brown

Associate Professor

Ph.D., Univ. Alabama, Birmingham, 1991

Research

DNA damage response

Office:

392C CGR

Lab:

380G CGR

Telephone:

(352)273-5458

Email:

kdbrown1@ufl.edu

Home Page:

http:// kdbrownlab.blogspot.com

BIOGRAPHY
Associate Professor Kevin D. Brown earned his Ph.D. degree in Cell Biology at the University of Alabama-Birmingham in 1991 in the lab of Dr. Lester (Skip) Binder. He then joined Dr. Don Clevelandï¿½s laboratory at Johns Hopkins where he worked on molecular mechanisms controlling chromosome migration and the cell cycle. In 1995 he joined Dan Tagleï¿½s and Francis Collinsï¿½ group at the National Human Genome Research Institute/NIH where he began research on the function of the ATM kinase in the DNA damage response. In 1998 he took a position at LSU Health Sciences Center-New Orleans and rose to the rank of Associate Professor. He joined the the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at UF in 2004. Dr. Brown has served on NIH and DOD study sections and as a reviewer for numerous journals in the field.
RESEARCH DESCRIPTION
DNA damage initiates a series of signals that trigger responses such as activating cell cycle checkpoints and apoptosis. These pathways are crucial in maintaining stability of the human genome and limiting cancer development. One focus of the lab is studying how the kinases ATM and ATR function in damage response and how the mismatch repair system (MMR) impacts upon ATM/ATR-dependent checkpoint and apoptosis signaling. Recent studies from our lab determined that the alkylating agent MNNG triggers G2/M cell cycle arrest through MMR-dependent activation of the kinases Chk1 and Chk2. Future studies will focus on better understanding the function of ATM/ATR and MMR in response to this and other genotoxins. Another interest concerns our recent finding that the ATM gene is a novel target for epigenetic silencing via aberrant methylation of CpG dinucleotides within its proximal promoter. We are currently analyzing DNA samples taken from various human tumor types and studying the occurrence of ATM promoter hypermethylation using molecular genetics