Yves Brun
Distinguished Professor
I have had the privilege to work with an outstanding group of people since opening my lab in 1993. My main role is to enable the research of everyone in the lab and help them as much as I can with their subsequent careers. What I like most about my lab is the passion everyone has for understanding basic mechanisms in bacteria and their interest in helping everyone succeed. I also love cooking, hiking, and traveling, and I am constantly in search of the perfect backpack. In January 2019, I became the Canada 150 Research Chair in Bacterial Cell Biology at the Université de Montréal, in my favorite city in the world.
Contact: yves (dot) brun (at) umontreal (dot) ca
Biography
I did B.Sc. (1983) and M.Sc. (1985) studies at the Université de Moncton, Canada where I performed research on the mechanisms of protein synthesis with Alan Fraser, funded by undergraduate and graduate fellowships from the National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and for which I received the Governor General of Canada Gold Medal for graduate work. I obtained my Ph.D. from the Université Laval, Canada (1990) for work on the evolution and regulation of tRNA and aminoacyl tRNA synthetase genes with Jacques Lapointe and with fellowship support from NSERC. I conducted postdoctoral research (1990-93) at Stanford University, where I performed research on the regulation of bacterial cell differentiation with Lucy Shapiro, funded by fellowships from NSERC and from the Medical Research Council of Canada. I moved to a faculty position at Indiana University in 1993 where I was the Clyde Culbertson and Distinguished Professor of Biology, served as Director of the Microbiology Graduate Program and as Associate Chair for Microbiology, and received many teaching awards. I received an Academic Scientific Achievement Award from the American Society for Microbiology (2005), was elected to the American Academy of Microbiology (2010), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2012), the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2020), the Royal Society of Canada (2021), and received the Indiana University Outstanding Faculty Collaborative Research Award (2014) and a Fulbright US Research Scholar Award (2014). In 2019, I received the Murray Award from the Canadian Society of Microbiologists, the Society’s premier award for senior researchers to provide national recognition to outstanding Canadian Microbiologists. I served as Editor of the Journal of Bacteriology (2003-07 and 2018-21) and mBio (2013-16) and am on the Editorial Advisory Board of Cell. In January 2019, I moved to the Université de Montréal in the Département de microbiologie, infectiologie et immunologie where I am the Canada 150 Research Chair in Bacterial Cell Biology. I am proud to maintain an association with my home of 26 years in the Indiana University Department of Biology as Distinguished Professor Emeritus. My research spans a wide area in microbiology and is characterized by the use of multidisciplinary approaches. I have made made important contribution to our understanding of the regulation of cell division, cell cycle control, development and cell differentiation, protein localization, the function, determination, and evolution of cell shape, and the mechanisms, regulation, and biophysics of surface adhesion and biofilm formation in bacteria.
DEGREES
1983 B.S., Biochemistry, Université de Moncton, Nouveau-Brunswick, Canada
1985 M.S., Chemistry, Université de Moncton, (Mechanism of action of elongation factor P (EF-P) of Escherichia coli). Thesis advisor, Alan Fraser.
1990 Ph.D., Biochemistry, Université Laval, Québec, Canada (Evolution, organization and regulation of the glutamyl-tRNA synthetase gene (gltX) and of some tRNA genes of Escherichia coli). Thesis advisor, Jacques Lapointe.
APPOINTMENTS
1990-93 Postdoctoral Fellow (w Lucy Shapiro), Dept of Developmental Biology, Stanford University
1993-99 Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, Indiana University
1997-2004 Co-Director, Research Experience for Undergraduates in Molecular Biology and Genetics Program, Indiana University
1999-2003 Associate Professor, Department of Biology, Indiana University
2001-2004 Director, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (MBB) Section, Indiana University
2001-2006 Director, Microbiology Graduate and Undergraduate Programs, Indiana University
2003-2007 Editor, Journal of Bacteriology
2003-pres. Professor, Department of Biology, Indiana University
2004-2012 Director, Microbiology Node, Metabolomics and Cytomics Initiative, Indiana University
2005-2007 Director, Molecular Biology and Genetics Graduate Program (MBG), Indiana University
2007-2009 Director, Microbiology and Molecular Biology Section (MMB), Indiana University
2007-2017 Clyde Culbertson Professor of Biology, Indiana University
2009-2010 Associate Chair, Section of Microbiology, Department of Biology, Indiana University
2013-2015 Board of Editors, mBio
2014-2015 Sabbatical leave, Institut de Biologie Structurale, Grenoble and Laboratoire de Microbiologie et Génétique Moléculaires, Toulouse
2017-2022 Editor, Journal of Bacteriology
2017-2019 Distinguished Professor, Department of Biology, Indiana University
2017 Associate Chair, Section of Microbiology, Department of Biology, Indiana University
2019 Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Biology, Indiana University
2019-2026 Canada 150 Research Chair in Bacterial Cell Biology, Université de Montréal.
2019-pres. Professor, Département de microbiologie, infectiologie et immunologie, Université de Montréal
FELLOWSHIPS AND AWARDS
1983-88 National Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Postgraduate Scholarship
1985 Governor General of Canada’s Gold Medal (“awarded to the student who graduates with the highest standing for graduate studies”)
1988 Fonds pour la formation de chercheurs et l’aide à la recherche du Québec Training Scholarship
1990-91 Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship
1991-93 Medical Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellowship
1997 Senior Class Award for Teaching Excellence in Biology and Dedication to Undergraduates, Department of Biology, Indiana University.
1999 Teaching Excellence Recognition Award, Department of Biology, Indiana University
2001 Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award.
2005 Indiana Branch American Society for Microbiology Academic Scientific Achievement Award
2007-2017 Clyde Culbertson Endowed Professor of Biology
2010 Alumnus of the Year, Faculté des Sciences, Université de Moncton, Moncton, N.-B., Canada
2010 Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology
2012 Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
2014 Indiana University Outstanding Faculty Collaborative Research Award (with Michael Van Nieuwenhze)
2014 Fulbright US Research Scholar Award
2015 Divisional Lecturer representing Divisions I, N and O, General Meeting of the American Society for Microbiology, New Orleans, May 30 – June 2
2017 Distinguished Professor, Indiana University.
2019-2026 Canada 150 Research Chair in Bacterial Cell Biology, Université de Montréal.
2019 Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Department of Biology, Indiana University
2019 Canadian Society of Microbiologists Murray Award for Career Achievement
2020 Fellow, Canadian Academy of Health Sciences
2021 Fellow, Royal Society of Canada
2022 Ordre du mérite (alumnus of the year), Université de Moncton, for «exceptional contributions »