Dr. Brydon's research interests encompass the study of the relationship between viral infection and MS, and mechanisms of immune pathology in MS. His current research efforts focus on the study of herpes viruses and the related immune mechanisms activated by infection. In the former studies his team is analyzing patient samples to determine whether virus is present in the cells of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), particularly with respect to patients at the beginning of their symptoms. Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a primary candidate for a viral cause of the disease due to much research literature showing present at a higher level, with more prevalent immune responses, in MS patients than the general population. However, since the presence of virus may only be a correlative or bystander phenomenon as related to the disease, Dr. Brydon and his team are utilizing methods to understand whether MS patients respond to EBV infection differently from otherwise healthy people, in which case EBV could be a trigger of MS even if it is not present in patients’ cells, by means of an aberrant immune response against the CNS as opposed to the ordinary immune control of the infection in healthy people.
Dr. Brydon’s research on the immune mechanisms of MS also encompasses changes in immune response as the disease progresses, including comparative analysis of the blood and CSF of patients at the start of their disease course who present with a milder form of disease, in contrast those who have very aggressive MS. Monitoring changes in the immune phenotype of the former set of patients will assist in understanding the mechanisms of control and pathogenesis in the immune system that have come unbalanced and may enable the targeting of certain cells to redress that balance.
Dr. Brydon completed his Bachelor's degree in Anatomical Sciences at the University of Wales, Cardiff, his Master's degree in Immunology and Infection and PhD in Biosciences at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. He came to New York for post-doctoral studies at Mount Sinai School of Medicine working on the molecular biology and host-virus interaction of influenza virus.