Brett Green , PhD

Adjunct Assistant Professor

Organization:

West Virginia University School of Medicine

Department:

Microbiology, Immunology & Cell Biology

Classification:

Adjunct Faculty

Selection of recent publications (2008-2014):

Sercombe JK, Liu-Brennan D, McKay KO, Green BJ, Tovey ER. (2014) The concentration of airborne particles carrying fungal allergens is greater than the concentration of particles carrying dust mite, cat and cockroach allergens combined: a study of indoor aerosols in Sydney houses using the Halogen IgE Immunoassay. Indoor Air (In Press).

Buskirk AD, Templeton SP, Nayak AP, Hettick J, Law BF, Green BJ, Beezhold DH. (2014) Pulmonary immune responses to Aspergillus fumigatus in an immunocompetent mouse model of repeated exposures. Journal of Immunotoxicology (In Press).

Lemons AR, Siegel PD, Nayak AP, Law B, Hettick JM, Beezhold DH, Green BJ (2014) A murine monoclonal IgM antibody with broad specificity for occupational diisocyanates. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene 11 (2): 101-110.

Rittenour WR, Ciaccio CE, Barnes CS, Kashon ML, Beezhold DH, Green BJ (2014) Internal transcribed spacer rRNA gene sequencing analysis of fungal diversity in Kansas City indoor environments. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, 16 (1): 33-43.

Tuntevski K, Durney BC, Snyder AK, LaSala PR, Nayak AP, Green BJ, Beezhold DH, Rio RV, Holland LA, Lukomski S. (2013) Aspergillus collagen-like genes (acl): identification, sequence polymorphism and assessment for PCR-based pathogen detection. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 79 (24): 7882-7895.

Lemons AR, Bledsoe TA, Siegel PD, Beezhold DH, Green BJ (2013) Development of sandwich ELISAs for the detection of aromatic diisocyanate adducts. Journal of Immunological Methods, 397 (1-2): 66-70.

Mhike M, Chipinda I, Hettick JM, Simoyi RH, Lemons AR, Green BJ, Siegel PD. (2013) Characterization of methylene diphenyl diisocyanate haptenated human serum albumin and hemoglobin. Analytical Biochemistry, 440 (2): 197-204.

Nayak AP, Green BJ, Sussman G, Berlin N, Lata H, Chandra S, El Sohly MA, Hettick JM, Beezhold DH. (2013) Characterization of Cannabis sativa allergens. Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, 111 (1): 32-37.

Cummings K, Gaughan D, Green BJ, Beezhold DH. (2013) Flu-like illness among workers at a soy processing plant. American Journal of Industrial Medicine, 56 (5): 520-521.

Oliver-Kozup HA, Martin KH, Zhang L, Schwegler-Berry DE, Green BJ, Betts C, Shinde AV, Van De Water L, Lukomski S. (2013) The group A streptococcal collagen-like protein-1, Scl1, mediates biofilm formation by targeting the extra domain A-containing variant of cellular fibronectin expressed in wounded tissue. Molecular Microbiology, 87 (3): 672-689.

Nayak AP, Green BJ, Beezhold DH (2013) Fungal hemolysins. Medical Mycology, 51 (1): 1-16.

Reponen T and Green BJ (2012) Microbial Bioaerosols in the Occupational Environment: Exposure, Detection, and Disease. In Bingham E (ed) Patty's Toxicology. 499–534.

Rittenour WR, Beezhold DH, Hamilton R, Green BJ (2012) Immunologic, spectrophotometric and nucleic acid based methods for the detection and quantification of airborne pollen. Journal of Immunological Methods, 383: 47-53.

Endres SM, Green BJ, Henneberger PK, Germolec DR, Bledsoe TA, Beezhold DH, London SJ, Alavanja MC, Beane Freeman LE, Hoppin JA. (2012) Fungal and atopic sensitization are low among farmers in the Agricultural Health Study. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 130 (1): 267-270.

Nayak AP, Green BJ, Friend S, Beezhold DH. (2012) Development of monoclonal antibodies to recombinant terrelysin and characterization of expression in Aspergillus terreus. Journal of Medical Microbiology, 61 (4): 489-499.

Rittenour WR, Park JH, Cox-Ganser J, Beezhold DH, Green BJ (2012) Comparison of DNA extraction methodologies used for assessing fungal diversity via ITS sequencing. Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 14 (3): 766-774.

Eduard W, Heedrick DJJ, Duchaine C, Green BJ. (2012) Bioaerosol exposure assessment in the workplace: the past, present and recent advances. Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 14 (2): 334-339.

Sercombe JK, Green BJ, Rimmer J, Burton PK, Katelaris CH, Tovey ER. (2011) London Plane Tree bioaerosol exposure and allergic sensitization in Sydney, Australia. Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, 107 (6): 493-500.

Nayak AP, Green BJ, Janotka E, Hettick JM, Friend S, Vesper SJ, Beezhold DH, Schmechel D. (2011) Monoclonal antibodies to hyphal exoantigens derived from the opportunistic pathogen, Aspergillus terreus. Clinical and Vaccine Immunology, 18 (9): 1568-1576.

Singh U, Reponen T, Cho Kyungmin J, Grinshpun SA, Adhikari A, Levin L, Indugula R, Green BJ. (2011) Airborne endotoxin and β-D-glucan in PM1 in agricultural and home environments. Aerosol and Air Quality Research, 11: 376-386.

Green BJ, Beezhold DH. (2011) Industrial fungal enzymes: an occupational allergen perspective. Journal of Allergy, 2011 (682574): 1-11.

Green BJ, Cummings KJ, Rittenour WR, Hettick JM, Bledsoe TA, Blachere FM, Siegel PD, Gaughan DM, Kullman GJ, Kreiss K, Cox-Ganser J, Beezhold DH. (2011) Occupational sensitization to soy allergens in workers at a processing facility. Clinical and Experimental Allergy, 41 (7): 1022-1030.

Templeton SP, Buskirk AD, Law BF, Green BJ, Beezhold D (2011) Role of germination in murine airway CD8+ T-cell responses to Aspergillus conidia. PLoS One, 6 (4): e18777, 1-11.

Nayak AP, Green BJ, Janotka E, Blachere FM, Beezhold DH, Vesper SJ, Schmechel D. (2011) Production and characterization of IgM monoclonal antibodies against hyphal antigens of Stachybotrys species. Hybridoma, 30 (1): 29-36.

Buskirk AD, Hettick J, Chipinda I, Law BF, Siegel PD, Slaven JE, Green BJ, Beezhold DH (2011) Fungal pigments inhibit the matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry analysis of darkly pigmented fungi. Analytical Biochemistry, 411 (1): 122-128.

Cummings KJ, Gaughan DM, Kullman GJ, Beezhold DH, Green BJ, Blachere FM, Bledsoe TA, Kreiss K, Cox-Ganser J. (2010) Adverse respiratory outcomes associated with occupational exposures at a soy processing plant. European Respiratory Journal, 36 (5): 1007-1015.

Templeton SP, Buskirk AD, Green BJ, Beezhold D, Schmechel D. (2010) Murine models of airway fungal exposure and allergic sensitization. Medical Mycology, 48 (2): 217-228.

Green BJ, Tovey ER, Beezhold DH, Perzanowski MS, Acosta LM, Divjan AI, Chew GL. (2009) Surveillance of fungal allergic sensitization using the fluorescent Halogen Immunoassay. Journal of Medical Mycology, 19 (4): 253-261.

Yli-Panula E, Fekedulegn DB, Green BJ, Ranta H. (2009) Analysis of airborne Betula pollen in Finland; a 31-year perspective. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 6: 1706-1723.

Hettick JM, Green BJ, Buskirk AD, Kashon ML, Slaven JE, Janotka E, Schmechel D, Beezhold DH. (2008) Discrimination of Aspergillus isolates at the species and strain level by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry fingerprinting. Analytical Biochemistry, 380 (2): 276-281.

Schmechel D, Green BJ, Blachere FM, Janotka E, Beezhold DH. (2008) Analytical bias of cross-reactive polyclonal antibodies for environmental immunoassays of Alternaria alternata. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 121 (3): 763-768.

Academic Interests

Occupational immune diseases are among the most frequently reported illnesses that affect workers in the United States. Personal exposure to a variety of occupational hazards can elicit immune diseases including contact dermatitis, rhinitis, asthma, and hypersensitivity pneumonitis. During the last decade, major changes in the U.S. labor force have presented new and emerging occupational hazards that require immunologic characterization. In order to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with occupational immune diseases, it is critical that emerging hazards are identified and characterized.

Occupational exposure to high molecular weight (HMW) proteins can result in IgE mediated type I hypersensitivity reactions ranging from rhinitis to life threatening asthma and anaphylaxis. HMW occupational allergic diseases can occur episodically in specific sectors including healthcare, agriculture, biotechnology, animal husbandry, and processing occupations. My laboratory-based research program at NIOSH has provided leadership in the characterization and evaluation of HMW allergens, in particular emerging occupational allergens. Research areas of our laboratory follow four central themes that have significant implications for occupational health: (1) identification and characterization of emerging HMW allergens and other biomarkers of occupational exposure, (2) development of immunoassays for quantifying occupational HMW allergens, (3) characterization of HMW allergens and other occupational biohazards using innovative immunodiagnostic and molecular approaches, and (4) development of animal models to characterize immune mechanisms associated with exposure to occupational hazards. Other collaborative research initiatives include the production of monoclonal antibodies to low molecular weight chemical allergens and determining the diversity of occupational microbial contaminants using metagenomic methods including 16S and 18S ribosomal RNA sequencing.