Catherine Brissette

Research Focus: The host-pathogen interface
Lyme disease and relpasing fever spirochetes (Borrelia) 

Since starting my independent laboratory at University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences (UND SMHS) in
2010, the overarching theme of my research is to discover how microbes, particularly the Lyme disease pathogen Borrelia burgdorferi,
gain entry and subvert host defense mechanisms. My laboratory was the first to characterize both the kinetics of meningeal
colonization by B. burgdorferi and the associated histopathologic and host gene expression changes in the meninges, brain, and CSF as
compared to other peripheral tissues. Ultimately, our work will significantly advance the understanding of how B. burgdorferi
potentiates damage in the CNS and offer insight into pathways that may serve as targets for novel therapeutics and interventions. 

In my role as Faculty Fellow at the School of Graduate Studies from 2023-2025, I was actively involved in development and
implementation of a new mentoring program for junior faculty. I have served as both internal and external mentors for faculty on large
multi-investigator COBRE grants. As Assistant Dean for Graduate and Postgraduate Studies at the School of Medicine and Health
Sciences, I am actively engaged in recruitment of trainees and strengthening the STEM pipeline. I have a strong track record of
successful mentoring of and placement of trainees into their next career stage. I am committed to advancing the next generation of
scientists. Overall, I have advised or am currently advising 4 post-doctoral scientists, 6 doctoral students, 12 summer research medical
students, and 25 undergraduate students, in addition to high school students and professional staff.

Recent  Publications

Nguyen, H., Brissette, C.A. (2026) Machine learning-driven identification of virulence determinants in Borrelia burgdorferi associated with human dissemination. PLoS Computational Biology. 22(6):e1014407. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014407.PMID: 42308248

Faber, S., Mao, C., Darling, E.,Ahern, F., Brissette, C., Gardner, T., Weis, J.J., Bergström, S., Breitschwerdt, E.B., Coyne, C., Fallon, B.A., Goodreau, H., Lambert, J.S., Lloyd, V., Luchini, A., Mulkey, S.B., Nagel, K., Nemser, B., Rudenko, N., Shan, J., Tal, M.C., Embers, M.E. (2026)Perinatal transmission of Borrelia burgdorferi: Advancing scientific and clinical understanding of Lyme Disease in pregnancy. Frontiers in Medicine. 2026 Apr 9:13:1794120. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2026.1794120. PMCID: PMC13102645

Hewage, K.M., Munoz, C., Ozdogan, M., Brissette, C.A., Oncel, N. (2026) Interaction dynamics of Borrelia surface proteins with fibronectin. Biointerfaces. 21(1): DOI: 10.1116/6.0005056. PMID: 41700770

Cleveland, D.W., Wijetunga, N., Casselli, T., Tourand, Y., Pecoraro, H.L., Brissette*, C.A. (2026) Borrelia mayonii induces carditis but not arthritis in Lyme-susceptible mice. Frontiers in Immunology. Jan 22:17:1727413. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2026.1727413. PMID: 41659854

 Dougherty, M.W., Russart, N.M., Gaultney, R.A., Gisi, E.M., Cooper, H.M., Kallis, L.R., Brissette, C. A., Vaughan, J.A. (2024) Role of the southern red-backed vole, Myodes gapperi, in the enzoonotic maintenance of Lyme disease in northeastern North Dakota. Ticks and Tick-Borne Diseases 15: 102385. PMID: 39096783

 Jusuforvic, N., Savage, C., Saylor, T., Brissette, C., Zueckert, W., Schlax, P., Motaleb, Md., Stevenson, B. (2024) Borrelia burgdorferi PlzA is a c-di-GMP dependent DNA and RNA binding protein. Molecular Microbiology 121(5): 1039-1062. PMID: 38527857

  Munoz, C., Ozdogan, M., Tourand, Y., Casselli, T., Brissette, C.A., Oncel, N. (2024) Effects of outer surface lipoproteins on the nanomechanical properties of Lyme borrelia. J Physics D-: Applied Physics 57 115401. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1361-6463/ad1350

 Thompson, D., Odufuwa, A.E., Brissette, C.A., Watt, J.A. (2023) Transcriptome and methylome of the supraoptic nucleus provides insights into the age-dependent loss of neuronal plasticity. Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience 15:1223273. PMID: 37711995

 Saylor, T.C., Savage, C.R., Krusenstjerna, A.C., Jusufovic, N., Zückert, W.R., Brissette, C.A., Motaleb, Md., Schlax, P.J., Stevenson, B. (2023) Quantitative analyses of interactions between SpoVG and RNA/DNA. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 654:40-46. PMID: 36889033

 Casselli, T., Tourand, Y., Gura, K., Stevenson, B., Zückert, W.R., Brissette*, C.A. (2023) Endogenous linear plasmids lp28-4 and lp25 are required for infectivity and restriction protection in the Lyme disease spirochete Borrelia mayonii. Infection & Immunity Feb 28; e0006123. PMID: 36853005

 Saylor, T.C., Casselli, T., Lethbridge, K.G., Brissette, C.A., Zueckert, W.R., Stevenson, B. (2022) Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease spirochete, possesses genetically-encoded responses to doxycycline, but not to amoxicillin. PLoS ONE 17(9): e0274125. PMID: 36178885

 Casselli, T., Divan, A., Vomkof-DeKrey, E.E., Tourand, Y., Pecoraro, H., Brissette*, C.A. (2021) A murine model of Lyme disease demonstrates that Borrelia burgdorferi colonizes the dura mater and induces inflammation in the central nervous system. PLoS Pathogens 17(2): e1009256. PMID: 33524035

 Thompson, D., Sorenson, J., Greenmyer, J., Brissette, C.A., Watt, J.A. (2020) The Lyme disease bacterium, Borrelia burgdorferi, stimulates an inflammatory response in human choroid plexus epithelial cells. PLoS One 15(7): e0234993. PMID: 32645014

  Jutras, B.L., Arnold, W.K., Savage, C.R., Lethbridge, K.G., Carroll, D.W., Tilly, K., Bestor, A., Stewart, P.E., Rosa, P.A., Seshu, J., Brissette, C.A., Stevenson, B. (2019) The Lyme disease spirochete’s BpuR DNA- RNA-binding protein is differentially expressed during the mammal-tick infectious cycle and affects translation of the SodA superoxide dismutase. Molecular Microbiology 112(3):973-991. PMID: 31240776

 Casselli, T., Tourand, Y., Scheidegger, A., Arnold, W., Proulx, A., Stevenson, B., Brissette*, C.A. (2018) DNA methylation by restriction modification systems affects the global transcriptome profile in Borrelia burgdorferi.  Journal of Bacteriology pii: JB.00395-18. PMID:30249703

 Arnold, W.K, Lethbridge, K.G., Savage, C.R., Smith 2nd, T.C., Brissette, C.A., Seshu, J. Stevenson, B. (2018) Transcriptomic insights on the virulence-controlling CsrA, BadR, RpoN, and RpoS regulatory networks in the Lyme disease spirochete. PLoS One 13(8): e0203286. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0203286. PMID: 30161198