Harvard University · BiochemistryBrown Lab
Alan Brown · Cambridge, Massachusetts
Research Focus
The Brown lab at Harvard Medical School focuses on understanding how tiny structures called cilia and flagella function in various organisms, including humans and parasites. Their research explores the molecular mechanisms that control the movement of these structures, which play crucial roles in processes like fertility and disease. By using cutting-edge techniques, they hope to uncover how these movements are regulated and how this knowledge can lead to new treatments for diseases caused by parasites that affect millions of people.
ciliary motilityintraflagellar transportLeishmaniastructural biologymolecular mechanismssperm movementpathogen biologycellular assemblybiochemical purification
Research Aims
5AIM 01Investigate how axonemes are assembled from subcomplexes in eukaryotic cilia.
AIM 02Explore molecular mechanisms governing ciliary motility in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii.
AIM 03Characterize intraflagellar transport mechanisms in Leishmania parasites.
AIM 04Identify new proteins that assist in cargo transport along flagella.
AIM 05Develop structural models explaining ciliary movement adaptation to environmental conditions.
Skills the Lab Values
cryo-electron microscopygeneticsbiochemical purificationquantitative proteomicslive-cell imaginghigh-throughput bioinformaticsstructural modelingMolecular Biology techniquescell culture
Output against the department
Publications309top 20% of dept.81st of 402
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations22ktop 18% of dept.73rd of 402
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.