Jeffrey L. Browning, PhD

Research Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

My interests focus on understanding how the immune system interacts with stromal elements to form the specialized structures that orchestrate immunological encounters in lymphoid organs. On a different plane, the barriers to effective quantitation of disease are formidable in some autoimmune diseases especially those with considerable unmet need such as lupus and scleroderma. I am interested in bringing new views onto the human immune system to improve clinical studies.

Mesenchymal cell differentiation pathways are intimately interwoven with pathological processes e.g. compromised vascular integrity, aberrant tissue remodeling and fibrosis and tumor-stromal interactions. In lymphoid organs, the lymphotoxin pathway, a TNF family member, is one mechanism by which both innate and adaptive lymphoid cells communicate with their stromal microenvironments. The maintenance of a differentiated follicular dendritic cell network to scaffold the B cell follicle is a well-studied example of this communication. More recently, it is clear that another network, the fibroblastoid reticular cell network, is a differentiated form of mural cells, e.g. pericytes or vascular smooth muscle cells. The precise role of the lymphotoxin pathway in controlling this structure is an area of investigation. As lymph nodes can undergo massive expansion in response to danger following by involution, they form an intriguing model of physiological tissue remodeling. Using this foundation, we have been studying the stromal underpinnings of the perivascular adventitial compartment. this compartment is considered crucial to harbor stem cells, tissue resident leucocytes and sense and initiate repair/remodelling efforts after injury. Human skin has provided an excellent tool to observe these stromal perivascular networks.

Publications

  • Published 6/13/2025

    Adamski S, Ahn M, Barbeau PS, Belov V, Bernardi I, Bock C, Bolozdynya A, Bouabid R, Browning J, Cabrera-Palmer B, Cedarblade-Jones N, Colón Rivera AI, Conley E, da Silva V, Daughhetee J, Detwiler J, Ding K, Durand MR, Efremenko Y, Elliott SR, Erlandson A, Fabris L, Galindo-Uribarri A, Green MP, Hakenmüller J, Heath MR, Hedges S, Jeong H, Johnson BA, Johnson T, Jones H, Khromov A, Kim D, Konovalov A, Kozlova E, Kumpan A, Kyzylova O, Lee Y, Li G, Li L, Link JM, Liu J, Luxnat M, Major A, Mann K, Markoff DM, Mattingly J, Moye J, Mueller PE, Newby J, Ogoi N, O'Reilly J, Parno DS, Pérez-Loureiro D, Pershey D, Prior CG, Queen J, Rapp R, Ray H, Razuvaeva O, Reyna D, Rich GC, Rudik D, Runge J, Salvat DJ, Sander J, Scholberg K, Shakirov A, Simakov G, Snow WM, Sosnovtsev V, Stringer M, Subedi T, Suh B, Sur B, Tayloe R, Tellez-Giron-Flores K, Tsai YT, van Nieuwenhuizen EE, Virtue CJ, Visser G, Walkup K, Ward EM, Wongjirad T, Yang Y, Yoo J, Yu CH, Zaalishvili A. Evidence of Coherent Elastic Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering with COHERENT's Germanium Array. Phys Rev Lett. 2025 Jun 13; 134(23):231801. PMID: 40577756.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 8/28/2024

    Modanwal G, Dhamdhere R, Khera A, de Lemos JA, Peshock R, Browning J, Joshi P, Neeland I, Al-Kindi S, Madabhushi A. QuLF-CT: A Radiomics-Based Tool for Quantification of Liver Fat Fraction on Cardiac CT. JACC Adv. 2024 Sep; 3(9):101175. PMID: 39372483.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 8/7/2024

    Yamashita T, Kaplan U, Chakraborty A, Marden G, Gritli S, Roh D, Bujor A, Trojanowski M, Ligresti G, Browning JL, Trojanowska M. ERG Regulates Lymphatic Vessel Specification Genes and Its Deficiency Impairs Wound Healing-Associated Lymphangiogenesis. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2024 Nov; 76(11):1645-1657. PMID: 38965683.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 4/23/2024

    Etesami NS, Barker KA, Shenoy AT, De Ana CL, Arafa EI, Grifno GN, Matschulat AM, Vannini ME, Pihl RMF, Breen MP, Soucy AM, Goltry WN, Ha CT, Betsuyaku H, Browning JL, Varelas X, Traber KE, Jones MR, Quinton LJ, Maglione PJ, Nia HT, Belkina AC, Mizgerd JP. B cells in the pneumococcus-infected lung are heterogeneous and require CD4+ T cell help including CD40L to become resident memory B cells. Front Immunol. 2024; 15:1382638. PMID: 38715601.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/3/2023

    Akimov D, An P, Awe C, Barbeau PS, Becker B, Belov V, Bernardi I, Blackston MA, Bock C, Bolozdynya A, Browning J, Cabrera-Palmer B, Chernyak D, Conley E, Daughhetee J, Detwiler J, Ding K, Durand MR, Efremenko Y, Elliott SR, Fabris L, Febbraro M, Gallo Rosso A, Galindo-Uribarri A, Green MP, Heath MR, Hedges S, Hoang D, Hughes M, Johnson T, Khromov A, Konovalov A, Kozlova E, Kumpan A, Li L, Link JM, Liu J, Mann K, Markoff DM, Mastroberti J, Mueller PE, Newby J, Parno DS, Penttila SI, Pershey D, Rapp R, Raybern J, Razuvaeva O, Reyna D, Rich GC, Ross J, Rudik D, Runge J, Salvat DJ, Salyapongse AM, Sander J, Scholberg K, Shakirov A, Simakov G, Sinev G, Snow WM, Sosnovtsev V, Suh B, Tayloe R, Tellez-Giron-Flores K, Tolstukhin I, Ujah E, Vanderwerp J, Varner RL, Virtue CJ, Visser G, Wongjirad T, Yen YR, Yoo J, Yu CH, Zettlemoyer J. First Probe of Sub-GeV Dark Matter beyond the Cosmological Expectation with the COHERENT CsI Detector at the SNS. Phys Rev Lett. 2023 Feb 03; 130(5):051803. PMID: 36800477.

    Read at: PubMed

Other Positions

  • Research Professor, Medicine
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Member, Arthritis & Autoimmune Diseases Research Center
    Boston University
  • Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students)
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences

Education

  • University of Wisconsin Madison, PhD
  • Michigan State University, BS