Rate My Professor Paul Brett

Paul Brett, Ph.D., is a Professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine. He earned a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Victoria and a Ph.D. in Bacterial Pathogenesis from the University of Calgary. With over 30 years of experience in Burkholderia research, Brett serves as an adjunct professor at Mahidol University in Thailand. His laboratory specializes in tropical infectious diseases, particularly melioidosis caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei. The Brett Lab employs innovative approaches to purify bacterial polysaccharides and proteins, develop glycoconjugate-based subunit vaccines, characterize immune responses, and identify correlates of vaccine-induced immunity. Key projects include analysis of bacterial isolates from Thai melioidosis patients, nanolipoparticle-based multi-pathogen vaccines, and single-shot vaccines for melioidosis and glanders, funded by Defense Threat Reduction Agency awards such as HDTRA1-21-C-0014 and a $29 million contract with VitriVax.

Brett's lab has made significant contributions to the field, including identifying Burkholderia thailandensis as a new species, optimizing polysaccharide purification from pathogenic Burkholderia, developing capsular polysaccharide-based subunit vaccines that provide high-level protection in animal models, and co-developing a rapid, high-accuracy immunoassay licensed by the Thai Food and Drug Administration for 15-minute melioidosis diagnosis. These efforts challenge prior assumptions about subunit vaccine efficacy against B. pseudomallei and advance safe, antigenically defined countermeasures toward human clinical trials. Brett has authored over 125 peer-reviewed publications, cited more than 4,500 times, including 'Layering vaccination with antibiotic therapy results in protection and clearance of a high-dose Burkholderia pseudomallei challenge in Balb/c mice' (2024, Infection and Immunity), 'Development of Melioidosis Subunit Vaccines Using an Adjuvant and Carrier Protein Derived from the Pathogen' (2022, Infection and Immunity), and 'Distinct classes and subclasses of antibodies to hemolysin co-regulated protein 1 (Hcp1) following natural infection or immunization with subunit vaccines against Burkholderia pseudomallei' (2019, Scientific Reports). His cross-continental collaborations with experts in microbiology, immunology, and chemistry enhance global defenses against melioidosis, a disease killing approximately 90,000 people annually.