Brett Case

Assistant Professor of Virology, Immunology & Microbiology

James Brett Case, PhD, is a viral immunologist whose research focuses on understanding how emerging RNA viruses cause disease and how protective immunity can be harnessed to prevent infection and pathogenesis. His laboratory integrates molecular virology, animal models, immunology, and countermeasure design to investigate fundamental questions in viral pathogenesis, host range, immune protection, and viral adaptation. A major emphasis of his research is defining systemic and mucosal correlates of protection against highly pathogenic RNA viruses and translating these insights into broadly protective vaccines and monoclonal antibody therapies.

Dr. Case earned his PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from Vanderbilt University, where he studied the molecular mechanisms governing coronavirus replication, genome fidelity, and resistance to innate immunity in the laboratory of Dr. Mark Denison. He subsequently completed postdoctoral training with Dr. Michael Diamond at the Washington University School of Medicine, where his work encompassed the development of animal models, vaccines, antibodies, and antiviral strategies against SARS-CoV-2 and other emerging viruses.

Dr. Case is a former Helen Hay Whitney Foundation and Moderna Global Fellow. He has contributed to more than 70 scientific publications spanning coronavirus biology, viral pathogenesis, mucosal vaccination, antibody-mediated protection, and antiviral therapeutics. His research has helped define mechanisms of coronavirus replication and immune evasion, establish experimental models of emerging viral diseases, and advance mucosal vaccines and broadly protective countermeasures against diverse Sarbecoviruses and Merbecoviruses.

Dr. Case currently serves as an Assistant Professor at the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) and in the Department of Virology, Immunology, and Microbiology at the Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine.

Research Interests

1. Pathogenesis of Emerging RNA Viruses

We investigate how emerging RNA viruses infect susceptible hosts, disseminate between tissues, and cause respiratory, vascular, neurological, and systemic disease. Our work focuses primarily on coronaviruses, including Sarbecoviruses and Merbecoviruses, and bunyaviruses, particularly hantaviruses and orthobunyaviruses.

2. Systemic and Mucosal Antiviral Immunity

We study how systemic and tissue-localized immune responses control virus infections. A particular emphasis is placed on defining mucosal immune responses and correlates of protection against respiratory viruses.

3. Vaccine and Antibody Countermeasures

We develop vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and adaptable countermeasure platforms against emerging and antigenically diverse viruses. Our goal is to generate interventions that provide broad protection against entire virus families.

4. Viral Adaptation, Host Range, and Transmission

We investigate how immune pressure and tissue-specific environments shape viral adaptation, pathogenesis, and viral transmission. Using representatives from multiple virus families as complementary systems, we seek to define the molecular determinants that govern species tropism, immune escape, and emergence.