Description of Clinical Expertise

Dr. Brenner attends in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is board certified and fellowship trained in critical care.

Description of Other Expertise

Dr. Brenner teaches nanomedicine and medical entrepreneurship at Penn.

Description of Research Expertise

The Brenner Lab (brennerbioengineeringlab.com) uses the tools of nanotechnology and nanomedicine to create new gene therapy / genetic medicine therapies. Their research is in 4 buckets:

1) DNA-LNPs: They developed the first safe & effective DNA-loaded lipid nanoparticles (DNA-LNPs; PMIDs 39910195 & 40789922), and are using these to treat a variety of chronic diseases. DNA-LNPs treat 3 groups of diseases: a) Monogenic diseases not well served by AAV or CRISPR gene editing, such as cystic fibrosis, hemophilia A, and neurofibromatosis. b) Rare non-monogenic diseases such as pulmonary hypertension and bronchopulmonary dysplasia. c) DNA-LNPs are uniquely useful for common chronic diseases, including: obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, fibrosis, arthritis, and many more.

2) mRNA-LNPs for acute critical illnesses: We have developed engineered LNPs to treat the diseases of the ICU, such as acute ischemic stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage, ARDS (acute respiratory distress syndrome) and sepsis.

3) Toxicology of nanomedicine and gene therapy: We have identified the mechanisms of side effects of LNPs, and then engineered solutions. These side effects include inflammation (innate immune system activation), complement activation, thrombosis, and more.

4) Disease dynamics: We use tools from complexity science and statistical physics to understand diseases as dynamical systems, starting with a 2025 paper in Cell (PMID 40516526)