Brett Shook PhD

Dr. Brett Shook joined George Washington University’s Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine in 2019 as an Assistant Professor. Throughout his career, Dr. Shook has explored cellular and molecular pathways that coordinate tissue repair and become dysregulated under pathological conditions. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Connecticut, where he investigated age- and injury-related changes in adult neural stem cells and their niche. As a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Valerie Horsley at Yale University, he continued exploring tissue maintenance and repair, but changed his focus to mammalian skin.

Shook work revealed functional cellular heterogeneity within fibroblasts and macrophages in skin wound beds. Additionally, his work has identified distinct molecular interactions between skin resident mesenchymal cells (adipocytes and fibroblasts) and immune cells that promote successful inflammation and repair after injury. At GWU, Dr. Shook’s research focuses on communication between skin resident adipocytes and immune cells during tissue inflammation, regeneration, and cancer.