Division of Transplantation Surgery
395 W. 12th. Ave.
Columbus, OH 43210
614-293-8021
Brenda.Reader@osumc.edu
My graduate training was in neuroscience and immunology, and I focused my research on how stress affects asthmatic inflammation. In my postdoctoral years, I focused on the pathophysiology of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), which is a disease that can lead to a need for transplantation. Aside from my current role as director of research operations for the Comprehensive Transplant Biorepository, my research projects still focus on IPF with the addition of liver and lung organ preservation and repair during transplantation.
Research Interests
- Immunology
- Innate immune cells
- Sympathetic nervous system
- Basic mechanisms of lung innate immune host defense
- Innate immune system in transplantation
- Organ preservation and repair in transplantation
Research Lab Goals
As director of research operations for the Division of Transplantation Surgery, Brenda oversees all business, educational, clinical and administrative operations of the research program. This includes oversight of the Comprehensive Transplant Center (CTC) Biorepository, with a mission to provide high quality, clinically annotated biological specimens from normal and diseased tissues for current and future Ohio State University researchers in order to stimulate scientific discovery. Along with our IRB approved Total Transplant Care Program (TTCP), we hope that the biorepository will significantly impact basic science researchers, physicians, and the patients themselves. Through the TTCP, OSU investigators can obtain biospecimens and clinical data to facilitate research that will further allow us understand the functional and molecular underpinnings of human physiology and pathology of disease leading to the need for surgery or transplantation and our capacity to predict survival while awaiting transplantation, prognosis in the perioperative and postoperative period, short and long term outcomes and complications, and response to therapy. Additionally, the TTCP will promote increased collaborations between physicians and investigators that are necessary to bridge specific areas of research and expertise. Finally, the CTC Biorepository will create the rare opportunity for these transplant patients, many of whom want to be involved in the research process, to directly contribute to the research efforts at Ohio State.
Research Techniques
- Cell Isolation and Culture
- Molecular Biology
- Histology/Immunohistochemistry
Education
Undergraduate: The Ohio State University, Psychology/Biochemistry
PhD: The Ohio State University, Integrated Biomedical Science
Postdoctoral Fellowship: T32 NHLBI Mechanisms of Lung Inflammation
Honors and News
- Awarded Postdoctoral Scholar of the Year by the OSU Postdoctoral Association and the OSU Postdoctoral Advisory Council, 2017
- Appointed Ad Hoc member of the President and Provost’s Council of Women’s (PPCW), 2016-2017
- Elected Co-Chair of the OSU Postdoctoral Association, 2016-2017
- Appointed Chair of the OSU Postdoctoral Association Policy and Advocacy Committee, 2015-2016
- Awarded T32 NHLBI Fellowship, 2014
- Honorable Mention for Best Talk at IBMR Research Day, 2014
- Awarded F31 NIDCR NRSA Fellowship, 2011
- Nominated for Denman Outstanding Research Mentor Award, 2011