He earned his B.A. (Biology) from UNC-Asheville, and his M.S. /Ph.D. (Parasitology/Medical Entomology) from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana. During his doctoral studies, Brian was supported by a Vector-Borne Infectious Disease Training Fellowship funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Brian now focuses most of his research efforts on La Crosse encephalitis, a mosquito-borne disease found in western North Carolina. (http://mosquito.wcu.edu).