First Tennessee Chair of Excellence
Brian M. Peters, PhD
Dr. Brian M Peters currently holds the First Tennessee Endowed Chair of Excellence in Clinical Pharmacy and is an associate professor in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Translational Science at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center College of Pharmacy. He also holds a joint appointment as associate professor in the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Biochemistry in the College of Medicine.
Dr. Peters completed his BS degree in Microbiology from the Pennsylvania State University. Following time spent in the biotechnology sector, Dr. Peters earned his PhD from the University of Maryland—Baltimore in the Molecular Microbiology and Immunology program. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship and Assistant Professor-Research position at the Louisiana State University Health Science Center, focusing on mucosal and systemic immune responses to both bacterial and fungal pathogens. He joined the College of Pharmacy faculty in 2015 and co-directs and is a major instructor for the Principles of Medical Microbiology and Immunology course for pharmacy students.
Dr. Peters has more than 75 publications in the fields of molecular mycology, pathogenesis, and immunity. He has been invited to more than 30 national or international meetings and conferences to give platform presentations on his laboratories' research findings. Dr. Peters has mentored more than 25 trainees, including research staff, postdoctoral fellows, residents, professional students, graduate students, and undergraduates. He serves editorial roles for several scientific journals and has been invited to serve on multiple National Institutes of Health (NIH) study sections as an expert reviewer. His laboratory is currently supported by four NIH grants and several institutional awards. He has been continuously funded by the NIH since 2015 and has acquired in excess of $3 million of extramural funding since joining the faculty at UTHSC.
Major research interests for Dr. Peters lie in delineating fungal and host molecular mechanisms that exacerbate immunopathogenic responses, with special emphasis on vulvovaginal candidiasis. In addition, he has several active collaborations with College of Pharmacy and College of Medicine faculty members focused on outcomes of fungal infection and colonization in pediatric populations.