Brian P. O'connor, PhD
About Brian P. O'connor, PhD
Brian P. O'Connor, PhD, is an Assistant Professor and Co-Director of the NJH EVER Program at National Jewish Health in Denver, Colorado. He has extensive experience in immunology and genomics, with over 60 publications and a strong focus on respiratory diseases and immune system regulation.
Work at National Jewish Health
Brian P. O'Connor, PhD, currently serves as an Associate Professor at National Jewish Health in Denver, Colorado, a position he has held since 2016. He also functions as the Co-Director of the NJH EVER Program, a role he has undertaken since 2019. In addition, he has been the Scientific Director of the Genomics Facility since 2013. His work at National Jewish Health emphasizes the regulation of the immune system in respiratory diseases and the integration of various biological data to enhance clinical outcomes.
Previous Experience at University of Colorado
O'Connor worked at the University of Colorado as a Human Clinical Research Fellow from 2008 to 2009. He later returned to the University as an Assistant Professor in 2010, where he has been involved in academic and clinical research at the Anschutz Medical Campus (AMC) for over 14 years.
Education and Expertise
Brian P. O'Connor earned a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from the College of the Holy Cross. He then pursued a Ph.D. in Immunology at Dartmouth College, where he studied from 1997 to 2003. Following his doctoral studies, he completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, focusing on Immune Epigenetics from 2003 to 2008.
Research Contributions and Publications
O'Connor has authored over 60 publications in the fields of immunology and genomics. His research significantly contributes to the understanding of immune system regulation and respiratory diseases. He has led multiple NIH RO1-level projects as Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator, focusing on complex clinical research studies that investigate the immune system's role in respiratory health.
Innovations in Immune System Analysis
Brian P. O'Connor has pioneered the use of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies, including ChIP-seq, BCR/TCR-seq, and CITE-seq. These advancements facilitate advanced immune system analysis and biomarker discovery in human diseases. He has also developed integrated analysis strategies that combine epigenome, transcriptome, proteome, and clinical phenotype data to identify functional pathways relevant to clinical outcomes.