Dr. Valerie O Brien

Biography

Valerie P. O'Brien is an Assistant Professor at Purdue University in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology. She specializes in infection-associated tissue remodeling and cancers, with a particular emphasis on chronic bacterial infections. Her research program investigates a critical paradigm using clinically relevant mouse models in conjunction with studies of human samples to mechanistically dissect the maladaptive tissue remodeling caused by chronic bacterial infections. The primary focus of her research is on gastric cancer, particularly the infection attributed to the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (Hp). Her work aims to understand how Hp elicits inflammation that drives changes in gastric tissue, leading to cancer. With half of the world's population infected with Hp and its known association with gastric cancer, her research seeks to unravel the mechanisms of chronic infection and tissue remodeling, with the long-term goal of developing new host-targeted therapies for gastric cancer.

Research Interests

Experience