Derek Braun

Derek C. Braun, Ph.D. began teaching at Gallaudet in 1995 as an adjunct and has been tenure track since 2000.

As a graduate student, Dr. Braun was a NIH National Service Research Award (NRSA) fellow. His graduate research at the University of Maryland was on the bacterium Neisseria gonorrhoeae. He investigated and published on the genetics of its lipooligosaccharide antigenic variation. After graduation from the University of Maryland, Dr. Braun worked at the National Cancer Institute, NIH, from 2002 through 2006, where he studied signal transduction pathways important in cancer and pain. Dr. Braun was awarded a provisional patent for developing a fluorescent tool for high-throughput screening of potential anticancer drugs.

In 2006, Dr. Braun was selected to design and direct the Molecular Genetics Laboratory, Gallaudet's first biological research laboratory. This new laboratory was built on renovated space on the 4th floor of the Hall Memorial Building (HMB). Undergraduate students and summer interns perform research in the laboratory alongside deaf faculty.

Dr. Braun has been involved in the honors program for many years and was a honors student while enrolled at Gallaudet. He has taught Honors Introductory Biology, a Honors seminar in Bioterrorism, a Honors interdisciplinary course with Dr. Tonya Stremlau on nutrition science and American food marketing entitled 'The American Diet', and has served as an advisor and second reader for Honors senior capstone projects