Dani Brasino, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Training & Education

Dani Brasino obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Nutrition Science at the University of Texas. At UT, she worked in the lab of Stephen Hursting contributing to in vitro and in vivo studies of dietary impacts on breast and pancreatic cancer progression. After graduation, she moved to Boulder, Colorado where she joined the lab of Christopher Bowman while pursuing a PhD. Her thesis research focused on the development of manipulable synthetic phospholipids using photo- and click-chemistries. These lipids were integrated into membranes as part of a multi-university, artificial cell project. In 2018, she began postdoctoral research at the new, Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research (CEDAR) Center within the Knight Cancer Institute at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, Oregon. Beyond contributions to multiple research projects as part of the center’s collaborative structure, her primary research centered around the development of a polycarbonate-based organ-on-chip platform to enable host-microbe interaction studies between the gut microbiome and distal disease. She joined the Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics in August 2024.


Research Interests

Sequencing studies in patient cohorts has established a relationship between the gut microbiome and various diseases in local and nonadjacent tissues. However, a lack of mechanistic understanding of these relationships limits therapeutic opportunities. The mMicrobiome Lab seeks to apply organ-on-chip technology alongside traditional 2D and 3D in vitro models to interrogate the pathways underpinning correlations between the gut microbiome and disease progression or response to therapy. Current targets of research include the effect estrogen metabolism by gut bacteria has on breast cancer progression, and analyzing components of high fiber diets which result in improved immunotherapy response rates.


Featured Publications


Brasino, D. S. K.*, Speese, S. D., Schilling, K., Schutt, C. E. & Barton, M. C. A Linkable, Polycarbonate Gut Microbiome-Distal Tumor Chip Platform for Interrogating Cancer Promoting Mechanisms. Adv. Sci. 2024, 2309220. https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202309220


All Brasino Publications




Contact Information

Office: Stafford 208

Email