Bryan R. Cullen

Bryan R. Cullen obtained a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from Warwick University in the UK and a M.Sc. in Virology from the University of Birmingham before moving to the USA, where he obtained a Ph.D. in Microbiology from Rutgers University. In 1987, he was recruited to Duke University Medical Center as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. He currently holds a James B. Duke Professorship in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology at Duke. Dr. Cullen’s research interests focus on the use of viruses, especially HIV-1, as genetic tools to understand the molecular biology of eukaryotic cells, focusing particularly on RNA-sequence mediated gene regulation. Currently, his laboratory is studying the regulation of viral mRNA expression by epitranscriptomic modifications and using CRISPR/Cas-mediated gene editing as a tool to identify cellular factors that regulate viral gene expression. Recently, this has resulted in the identification of cellular factors that induce the epigenetic repression of HIV-1, resulting in latent infections. Dr. Cullen has published over 330 research papers and was listed as one of the worlds most highly cited scientists by Thomsen Reuters.