Britt Goods headshot2

Britt Goods

Assistant Professor of Engineering

Overview

Britt Goods' research lies at the intersection of reproductive health, immunology, and biological engineering. Prior to joining Dartmouth, Britt received her PhD in biological engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She subsequently was a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Alex Shalek at the Broad Institute, the Ragon Institute and the Institute for Medical Engineering and Sciences.

Research Interests

Single-cell RNA-sequencing; reproductive health and cancer; contraceptive discovery; systems biology; immunology

Education

  • BA, Biochemistry, Colby College 2010
  • BE, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Dartmouth 2011
  • PhD, Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2017

Awards

  • NRSA Postdoctoral Fellow, 2017–2021
  • Seibel Scholar, 2016
  • National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow, 2013–17
  • Howard A. 1925 and Florence Bellenot Schroedel Fellow, 2010–11
  • Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship Honorable Mention, 2009

Professional Activities

  • Member, Society for the Study of Reproduction
  • Member, Society for Research in Human Milk and Lactation
  • Kaufman Teaching Certificate Program (Fall, 2020)
  • Advisory Board for Big Data Bioinformatics conference, Boston 2016

Research Projects

  • Peripheral correlates of reproductive health

    Peripheral correlates of reproductive health

    Maintaining immune tolerance during pregnancy is essential and evidence suggests that imbalances between T cell subsets can lead to fatal pregnancy events. This project, using existing and in-house generated single-cell datasets, will seek to better understand how peripheral immune cell features correlate with reproductive and uterine health, and in the long term, pregnancy outcomes or fertility.

  • Models of lactation and lactocyte function

    Models of lactation and lactocyte function

    There is a need to create versatile tools for exploring the interplay between peripheral, tissue and immune factors in tissue remodeling. To create such a platform in the context of reproductive health, this project will develop methods for culturing organoids derived from patient material, with an initial focus on organoids derived from progenitor cells isolated from mammary tissue and human breast milk (hBM). These systems will be used to better understand lactation and cancer development, and ultimately, inspire methods for engineering "true to natural" formula production.

  • Contraceptive discovery

    Contraceptive discovery

    A significant barrier to discovering contraceptives is the lack of systems for exploring the molecular features of ovarian follicles (an oocyte surrounded by somatic cells in the ovary), the drivers of ovulation, and for screening for contraceptive potential. My lab, in collaboration with a well-established network of ovarian collaborators will leverage these systems to enable contraceptive discovery. We will do this by identifying early signals of ovulation prior to tissue remodeling to identify targets that can preserve fertility. This project will involve substantial analyses and integration of transcriptomic data, with opportunities to develop rational frameworks for discovering druggable targets from these data types.

  • Impact of hormones on immune cells

    Impact of hormones on immune cells

    The interaction between the endocrine system and immune system remains poorly understood. The goal of this project is to use single-cell methods to better understand how hormones impact immune cell differentiation and function, focusing initially on innate immune cells. This will ultimately allow us to tailor immune responses based on hormonal contexts and sex differences, while enabling the creation of a more integrated and complete model of immune cell functions.

Selected Publications

  • Goods BA*, Askenase M*, Markarian E, Beatty HE, Drake R, Matouk CC, Awad IA, Zuccarello M, Hanley MD, Love JC, Shalek AK, Sansing LH. Leukocyte dynamics after intracerebral hemorrhage in a living patient. JCI Insight (2021) https://insight.jci.org/articles/view/145857
  • Askenase M*, Goods BA*, Beatty HE, Steinschneider AF, Osherov A, Landreneau MJ, Carroll SL, Tran TB, Avram VS, Drake RS, Massey JA, Karuppagounder SS, Ratan RR, Matouk CC, Sheth KN, Awad IA, Ziai W, Zuccarello M, Thompson RE, Lees KR, Hanley DF, Love JC, Shalek AK, Sansing LH (for the MISTIE III Consortium and the ICHseq investigators). Longitudinal transcriptomics define the stages of myeloid activation in the living human brain after intracerebral hemorrhage. Science Immunology (2021) vol. 6, pp. 1-26. https://immunology.sciencemag.org/content/6/56/eabd6279/tab-e-letters
  • Chang CG, Goods BA, Askenase MH, Beatty HE, Osherov A, Delong J, Hammond MD, Massey J, Landreneau M, Love JC, Sansing LH. Divergent functions of tissue-resident and blood-derived macrophages in the hemorrhagic brain. Stroke (2021 In Press).
  • Menon M, Mohammadi S, Davila-Velderrain J, Goods BA, Cadwell TD, Xing Y, Stemmer-Rachamimov A, Shalek AK, Love JC, Kellis M, Hafler BP. Single-cell transcriptomic atlas of the human retina identifies cell types associated with age-related macular degeneration. Nature Communications. 10, Article number: 4902 (2019)
  • Goods BA+, Vahey J, Steinschneider A, Askenase M, Sansing LH, Love JC. Blood handling and leukocyte isolation methods impact the global transcriptome of immune cells. BMC Immunol. (2018) Oct 30;19(1):30. doi: 10.1186/s12865-018-0268-6.
  • Chang CG, Goods BA, Askenase MH, Hammond MD, Renfroe SC, Steinschneider AF, Landreneau MJ, Ai Y, Mack M, Sheth K, Greer D, Huttner A, Coman D, Fahmeed Hyder DS, Ghosh S, Rothlin C, Love JC, Sansing LH. Erythrocyte efferocytosis modulates macrophages towards recovery after intracerebral hemorrhage. J Clin Invest. (2017) Dec 18; doi: 10.1172/JCI95612
  • Goods BA*, Lowther DE*, Hernandez AL*, Lucca LE, Lerner BA, Raddassi K, van Dijk D, Duan X, Gunel M, Coric V, Krishnaswamy S, Love JC, Hafler DA. (2017) Functional Differences Between PD-1+ and PD-1– CD4+ Effector T Cells in Healthy Donors and Patients with Glioblastoma Multiforme. PLOS ONE 12(9); e0181538.
  • Taylor RA, Chang C, Goods BA, Hammond MD, MacGrory B, Ai Y, McCullough LD, Scott E. Kasner SE, Mullen MT, Hafler DA, Love JC, Sansing LH. TGF-β1 Modulates Microglial Phenotype and Promotes Recovery after Intracerebral Hemorrhage. J Clin Invest. (2017) Jan 3;127(1):280-292. doi: 10.1172/JCI88647.
  • Lowther DE*, Goods BA*, Lucca LE*, Lerner BA, Raddassi K, van Dijk D, Hernandez AL, Duan X, Gunel M, Coric V, Krishnaswamy S, Love JC, Hafler DA. PD-1 marks dysfunctional regulatory T cells in malignant gliomas. JCI Insight. (2016) Apr 21;1(5). pii: e85935.
  • Cao Y, Nylander A, Ramanan S, Goods BA, Ponath G, Zabad R, Chiang VL, Vortmeyer AO, Hafler DA, Pitt D. CNS demyelination and enhanced myelin-reactive responses after ipilimumab treatment. Neurology. (2016) Apr 19;86(16):1553-6.
  • Ozkumur AY*, Goods BA*, Love JC. Development of a High-Throughput Functional Screen Using Nanowell-Assisted Cell Patterning. Small. (2015) Sep;11(36):4643-50. doi: 10.1002/smll.201500674. Epub (2015) Jun 29.
  • Cao Y*, Goods BA*, Raddassi K, Nepom GT, Kwok WW, Love JC, Hafler DA. Functional inflammatory profiles distinguish myelin-reactive T cells from patients with multiple sclerosis. Sci Transl Med. (2015) May 13;7(287):287ra74. doi: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aaa8038.

Courses

  • ENGS 58: Introduction to Protein Engineering
  • ENGS 21: Introduction to Engineering