Daniel Brown

Biography

Dr. Daniel Brown joined the Western Carolina University Biology Department (January 2021) after working as an Instructor of Biology at the North Carolina School of Science and Math (August 2017-December 2020). Prior to NCSSM, Daniel completed his postdoctoral training in cardiovascular development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (2015-2017). While at UNC, he gained valuable teaching and pedagogical training through the SPIRE Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. In the Spring of 2017, Daniel served as a Visiting Assistant Biology Professor in the Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences at North Carolina Central University. Daniel completed his doctoral work at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment in the Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program (2009-2015). Daniel graduated as an Honors Fellow with a B.S. in Biology from Elon University (2009).

Education

• Ph D, Duke University, Environment

Teaching Interests

I am very interested in teaching and research mentorship of undergraduates. My interest in science communication and teaching is motivated by a desire to take complex information and make it accessible to a broad audience. Courses: General Biology, Climate Change Biology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Genetics, Developmental Biology, and Toxicology.

Research Interests

My research approach is motivated by the goals of 1) Characterizing how early developmental toxicant or drug exposures produce predictable cardiovascular pathologies and other novel phenotypes, 2) Addressing how exposures function on a basic molecular and physiological level, 3) Determining how to longitudinally monitor the consequences of toxicant and drug exposures, 4) Examining how climate change may exacerbate developmental toxicity, and 5) Exploring how drugs and toxicants slow or increase the pace of aging. My research strives to provide better characterization of cardiac development, general developmental milestones, and assess the underlying mechanisms leading to developmental abnormalities following early-stage exposures.