Britt Lab
The Britt Lab aims to define the physiological and immunological mechanisms that contribute to corticosteroid insensitivity in airway diseases and to develop novel strategies to improve corticosteroid sensitivity.
Airway inflammation (particularly Th1 and/or Th17-mediated immune responses) is thought to play a key role in the development of corticosteroid insensitivity in severe asthma. To examine how inflammatory pathways disrupt the anti-inflammatory effects of corticosteroids, the team uses human primary cells, most notably airway smooth muscle, and mouse models of severe allergic airway inflammation. Using these models and a variety of techniques, including histology, flow cytometry and next generation sequencing (including RNA-, ATAC- and Chip-seq), the Britt Lab investigates how innate and adaptive immune cells affect airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) and remodeling.
Featured Researcher: October 2021
Dr. Rodney Britt was selected as the Abigail Wexner Research Institute featured researcher. Learn more about Dr. Britt and his work in the Center for Perinatal Research.Lab Staff
Rodney Britt, PhD
Principal Investigator
Rodney.Britt@NationwideChildrens.org
Rodney D. Britt Jr., PhD, is a principal investigator at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and an assistant professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University. Dr. Britt earned his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from North Carolina A&T State University and his doctorate degree in Biomedical Sciences from The Ohio State University. He completed his postdoctoral training at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. His research training centered on understanding mechanisms in neonatal and pediatric airway diseases, most notably asthma and bronchopulmonary dysplasia.
Children with airway disease experience significant airflow obstruction, airway hyperresponsiveness and chronic inflammation. Furthermore, development of airway disease as a child increases the risk of having chronic airway disease as an adult. Dr. Britt’s lab aims to advance understanding of mechanisms related to neonatal and pediatric airway disease, with emphasis on how airway inflammation affects airway structure and function in asthma.
Brandon Lewis, PhD
Postdoctoral Scientist
Brandon.Lewis@NationwideChildrens.org
Brandon Lewis, PhD, began his postdoctoral training in the Britt Lab in 2019. His current projects center on understanding the role of macrophages in severe asthma and cystic fibrosis.
Dr. Lewis obtained his bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Mississippi and his master’s degree in Biological Sciences from Mississippi College. He completed his doctorate in Biomedical and Veterinary Sciences with an emphasis in lung diseases and immunology at Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine. As a graduate student, he investigated immunological responses, particularly T-helper and innate cell responses, in a cystic fibrosis mouse model (Scnn1b-Tg+ mouse model).
Dr. Lewis currently receives funding for his work from F32 fellowship from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He has previously received funding from the Office of Trainee Affairs at Nationwide Children’s and Cure Cystic Fibrosis Columbus (C3).
Joshua Walum
Bioinformatic Scientist
Joshua.Walum@NationwideChildrens.org
Joshua is a senior technician with extensive experience in molecular biology and bioinformatic analysis. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Molecular Genetics and Mathematical Biology from The Ohio State University. In the Britt Lab, Joshua leads the development and implementation of bioinformatic tools to study molecular mechanisms involved in corticosteroid insensitivity in asthma.
Maria Ford
Doctorate Researcher
Maria.Ford@NationwideChildrens.org
Maria Ford earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Currently, she is a doctorate student at The Ohio State University in the Biomedical Sciences graduate program. In the Britt Lab, Maria focuses on CD38 and its role in airway hyperresponsiveness.
Terri Harshman
Research Assistant
Terri.Harshman@NationwideChildrens.org
Terri Harshman joined the Britt lab in October 2021 as a research assistant. Terri has extensive experience in mouse colony management and husbandry stemming from her 2 ½ years’ experience with the Animal Research Core (ARC) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital. Terri handles day-to-day operations in the mouse facility. She also coordinates the lab’s animal handling and mouse colony training program.
Kathryn Heyob
Senior Research Associate
Kathryn.Heyob@NationwideChildrens.org
Kathryn joined the Britt Lab in 2022 and is responsible for conducting research, training lab members, ensuring protocol compliance and lab safety, maintaining equipment and overseeing day-to-day lab operations. She has been working on projects relating to the effects of inflammation on perinatal lung development with the Center for Perinatal Research for more than 15 years.
Kathryn earned her bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University.
Anushka S. Ruwanpathirana, MBBS
Doctorate Researcher
Anushka.Ruwanpathirana@NationwideChildrens.org
Anushka Ruwanpathirana, MBBS, joins the lab as a doctoral student in Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program at The Ohio State University. Her work focuses on airway smooth muscle gene and epigenetic regulation in inflammation and remodeling in severe asthma.
Originally from Sri Lanka, Anushka earned her bachelor’s in Medicine and Surgery (MBBS) from the University of Kelaniya – Sri Lanka. She gained pediatric and neonatal clinical experience during her work as a medical doctor in Sri Lanka for 6 years before moving to the United States.
Kathleen Shay
Research Intern
Kathleen.Shay@NationwideChildrens.org
Kathleen Shay supports studies on airway inflammation and remodeling in asthma. She is a senior The Ohio State University studying Biomedical Engineering and plans to attend medical school following graduation.