brian ellis
biology
associate professor
biography
after completing my ph.d. studying viral delivery systems for carrying targeted gene therapy components in the lab of matt porteus (now at stanford), i went on to do postdoctoral research at uc san diego in the lab of raffi aroian (now at umass medical center) where i worked on discovering and studying drugs that kill parasitic intestinal worms. these worms, specifically hookworm, whipworm, and ascaris, infect about 1.5 billion people worldwide, mainly impoverished people, and keep them in a cycle of poverty. i have taught at community colleges in the dallas/ft. worth area and most recently taught and ran a research lab with undergraduate students at bethel college (now called bethel university) in mishawaka, indiana.
i love teaching. i love students. i love science. i love students coming to fully understand the beauty of god’s creation, all the way down to the subatomic level. i believe that these loves come from god. i am passionate about showing students that faith and science aren’t just compatible, but that they go hand in hand. i am also passionate about playing a part in aiding those infected with parasitic worms and am actively involved in research with lipscomb students, both graduate and undergraduate, to that end. in my spare time, i enjoy playing basketball, tennis, hiking, cooking, and playing in the backyard with my family. i am thrilled to be a part of the lipscomb community.
wife - kelley ellis
children – tommy, charlie, and noelle
academic degrees
b.s. – university of denver: molecular biology and biochemistry double major, minor in medical physics
ph.d. – university of texas southwestern medical center at dallas: cell regulation/biochemistry
postdoc – university of california, san diego
academic department
department of biology
- by3214 microbiology
- by3102 biomolecular research methods
- by3001 biology seminar
- bms 5143 applied research
- bms 5503 research capstone/human disease capstone
- bms 5463 clinical research
- c. elegans
- helminths
- drugs
- anthelmintics
- parasitic worms
- ascaris
- whipworm
- hookworm
articles as corresponding author
- weaver kj, hu y, may cj, ellis bl (2017). using free-living caenorhabditis elegans as a model for anthelmintics study. plos one; e0179376.
articles
- ellis bl, potts pr, porteus mh (2011) creating higher titer lentivirus with caffeine. hum gene ther 22: 93-100.
- ellis bl, hirsch ml, porter sn, samulski rj, porteus mh (2013) zinc-finger nuclease mediated gene correction using single aav vector transduction and enhancement by food and drug administration-approved drugs. gene ther. 20(1): 35-42.
- ellis bl, hirsch ml, barker jc, connelly jp, steininger iii rj, porteus mh (2013). a survey of ex vivo/in vitro transduction efficiency of mammalian primary cells and cell lines with nine natural adeno-associated virus (aav1-9) and one engineered adeno-associated virus serotype. virology j. 10:74.
- hu y, miller mm, derman ai, ellis bl (i disagree with the order of authorship as this was my project before i left, please ask for more information), monnerat rg, et al. (2013) bacillus subtilis strain engineered for treatment of soil-transmitted helminth diseases. appl environ microbiol 79: 5527-5532.
- hu y, ellis bl, yiu yy, miller mm, urban jf, et al. (2013) an extensive comparison of the effect of anthelmintic classes on diverse nematodes. plos one 8: e70702.
- somvanshi vs, ellis bl, aroian rv (2014). nitazoxanide: nematicidal mode of action and drug combination studies. mol biochem parasitol 193(1): 1-8.
- hu y, scheib u, ellis bl, miller mm, yiu y, aroian rv. broad spectrum of cry5b as an anthelmentic (plos ntd, in preparation).
abstracts
- will huff, grace proffitt, brian l. ellis. an experimental application of video tracking software for a quantitative health-rating of caenorhabditis elegans in various concentrations of albendazole (2021). 10th annual student scholar symposium.
- allison lewis* and brian l. ellis. efficacy of ivermectin as an anthelmintic on larval stage 1 of c. elegans (2021). 10th annual student scholar symposium.
- jake sanzone, keyra patterson, brian l. ellis. using a health rating system to evaluate the effectiveness of albendazole on caenorhabditis elegans in l1 larval stage as a model for anthelmintic study (2021). 10th annual student scholar symposium.
- mason long, mary mousa, keyra patterson, brian l. ellis. determining the baseline for healthy l1 caenorhabditis elegans in liquid culture as a model for anthelmintic study (2021). 10th annual student scholar symposium.
- jarod sutter, brian l. ellis. using a health-rating system to determine the effect of anthelmintics using l1 c. elegans (2018). urc 2018 butler undergraduate research conference.
- kathryn j. weaver, cassandra j. may, brian l. ellis. using a health-rating system to evaluate the usefulness of c. elegans as a model for anthelmintic study (2017). 21st international c. elegans meeting.
- kathryn weaver, brian l. ellis. the use of caenorhabditis elegans as a model for anthelmintic drug study (2017). indy worm meeting.
- kyle busse, brian l. ellis. testing anthelmintics on c. elegans at the first larval stage (l1) (2017). urc 2017 butler undergraduate research conference.
- kara gowens, brian l. ellis. combinatorial testing of nitazoxanide and tizoxanide with other anthelmentics on c. elegans (2017). urc 2017 butler undergraduate research conference.
- kathryn weaver, brian l. ellis. the use of caenorhabditis elegans as a model for anthelmintic drug study (2017). urc 2017 butler undergraduate research conference.
- jordan schoppen, brian l. ellis. using c. elegans to evaluate ivermectin toxicity over time (2017). urc 2017 butler undergraduate research conference.
- kathryn weaver, brian l. ellis. is c. elegans a good model for anthelmintic discovery/study? (2016). urc 2016 butler undergraduate research conference.
- yan hu, melanie miller, alan derman, brian l. ellis, daniel huerta, joseph pogliano, raffi aroian (2013). treat worm infections with crystal protein expressing in probiotic like bacteria. 19th international c. elegans meeting.
- brian l. ellis, alan derman, james lui, yan hu, melanie miller, kristie woo, alan kelleher, joe pogliano, kit pogliano, raffi aroian (2012). complete cure of human hookworm in a hamster model using a novel approach with cry5b from bacillus thuringiensis. astmh (american society of tropical medicine and hygiene) 61st annual meeting.
- yan hu, brian l. ellis, jillian sesar, melanie miller, ying yiu, raffi v. aroian (2012). bacillus thuringiensis crystal proteins as cures for intestinal roundworms. 45th annual meeting of the society for invertebrate pathology.
- yan hu, brian l. ellis, ying yiu, melanie miller, bin zhan, joseph urban, raffi aroian (2012). what can roundworms tell us about anthelmentics? gordon conference: host-parasite interactions, biology of.
- yan hu, brian l. ellis, ying yiu, melanie miller, joseph urban, bin zhan, raffi aroian (2011). what can parasitic and free-living roundworms tell us about anthelmentics? astmh 60th annual meeting.
- raffi aroian, yan hu, brian l. ellis (accidentally omitted, ra later placed ble here), ying yiu, jillian sesar, melanie miller, joseph urban, bin zhan, hui fan, partho ghosh (2011). bt crystal pore-forming proteins as anthelmentics. symposium ‘membrane ion-channels in helminth parasites: resistance and sites of action for anthelmentics’.
- yan hu, brian l. ellis, ying yiu, melanie miller, joseph urban, bin zhan, raffi aroian (2011). what can parasitic and free-living roundworms tell us about anthelmentics? symposium ‘membrane ion-channels in helminth parasites: resistance and sites of action for anthelmentics’.
- brian l. ellis, yan hu, ying liu, raffi aroian (2011). update: progress made toward clinical use of the bacillus thuringiensis (bt) cry5b protein as an anthelmentic. 18th international c. elegans meeting.
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brian l. ellis, matthew l. hirsch, jenny barker, richard j. samulski, matthew h. porteus (2011). zinc-finger nuclease-mediated gene correction using single aav vector transduction and enhancement by fda approved drugs. asgct annual meeting.
