Brenda Curtis, PhD

Dr. Brenda J. Curtis graduated from DePaul University with a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Biological Sciences, in 2003. She obtained her Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry from Loyola University Chicago, in 2010. Her doctoral work focused on understanding the role of epigenetic factors in controlling tissue specification and cellular identity.

As a postdoctoral fellow, her training centered on delineating epigenetic mechanisms and signaling pathways involved in regulating tissue repair after injury, and in dual hit models that combine injury with alcohol intoxication, radiation exposure, infection, or advanced age.

Currently, as an Assistant Research Professor working closely with Dr. Elizabeth J. Kovacs for the past six years, first at Loyola University in Chicago and now at the University of Colorado Denver, Dr. Curtis is involved in multiple research projects investigating aberrant immune responses after injury. Most recently, Dr. Curtis has expanded her repertoire of skill sets and research interests to include microbiome analyses, with the goal of characterizing the gut and lung microbiome and correlating microbiome dysbiosis with alterations in inflammatory mediators, including pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines, antimicrobial peptide production, and gut barrier integrity.