Daniel DeWitt Brown, Ph.D.
You can contact me at Danielbrownphd at the ole gmail dot, you know.
About Me
Through most of my childhood and teenage years, I planned to become an artist. Then I had two amazing teachers in biology who set me squarely on the path to becoming a scientist. After many years of studying and training, I finally earned a PhD studying the genetics of heart development. I have since studied various biological systems at many different institutions, including in the biotech industry. However, I never stopped making art, which now largely comprises of woodworking, as it remains my primary hobby. I only rarely sell my work or do commissions, though I’m open to considering them and will take one on rare occasions. However, I generally try to avoid doing this for money. One fulltime+ job is enough.
Art
Over the past 8 years I’ve been obsessed with learning a new set of skills in various types of woodworking, particularly “intarsia”. I’ve also picked up a little stained glass. I previously did a lot of work with pan pastels and pastel pencils, and I have done a fair amount of graphite pencil drawings, primarily commissioned pet portraits (I no longer do these commissions).
Most of my older 3D digital work revolved around using the free and opensource Blender 3D modeling and animation software and GIMP, which is similar to photoshop. And I’ve done a bit of 2D digital drawing using tablets and computer.
Science
I am currently Senior Research Scientist at the Institute for Precision Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh in the Magee-Womens Research Institute (MWRI), where I work on cutting edge methods to culture, expand, and cryopreserve cancer-derived organoids (currently from breast cancer patient surgeries and autopsies).
From 2012 to 2018 I worked at MWRI where I studied ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), a non-invasive form of breast cancer that is thought to be a precursor to invasive breast cancer. Until early 2012 I was a research scientist for Thermo Fisher Scientific. Prior to that I finished a post-doctoral position at Carnegie Mellon University studying the evolution of gene regulatory networks in organismal development (using sea stars and urchins as a model). I was also formerly a post-doc at the National Institute of Environmental Health Science where I studied the biology and genetics of brain development and function. I earned a BA in biology from Hendrix College and a PhD in the Program in Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I also spent a summer as an HHMI undergraduate fellow radio-tracking timber rattlesnakes in the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas.
Disclaimer
Any opinions and statements expressed on this blog are mine alone. They do not reflect the positions of any institution or organization with which I am affiliated. I reserve the right to delete any comment or ban any commenter for any reason whatsoever. Please direct any questions or comments directly to DanielBrownPhD [at] gmail [dot] com.