Biography
Education
Institution | Degree | Dept or School | End Date |
---|---|---|---|
Royal College of Pathologists | FRCPath | Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics | 2018 |
American Board of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ABHI) | D(ABHI) | Histocompatibility Testing | 2008 |
Stanford University | Post-Doctoral Research | Immunogenetics | 2002 |
All India Institute of Medical Sciences | Ph.D. | Histocompatibility & Immunogenetics | 1996 |
University of Madras | M.Phil. | Endocrinology | 1989 |
Bharathiyar University | M.Sc. | Zoology | 1988 |
University of Madras | B.Sc. | Zoology | 1984 |
Awards & Honors
Award | Conferred By | Date |
---|---|---|
Prof. NK Mehra Oration Award 2016 | Indian Society for Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ISHI) | 2016 |
Certificate of Qualification, Histocompatibility Laboratory Director | New York State Department of Health | 2012 |
Histocompatibility Laboratory Director | Department of Public Health, State of California | 2009 |
Clinical Immunology Training Award | FIMSA & IUIS | 1996 |
Shakuntala Amir Chand prize for the best Ph.D. thesis in Biomedical Sciences in India | Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) | 1996 |
University First Rank in post-graduation (M.Sc.: Zoology, Biochemicstry, Molecular Biology) | Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore, India | 1988 |
Collaboration Interests
I am interested in:
- academic collaboration
- community and stakeholder organizations
- companies and entrepreneurs
- multicenter clinical research
- prospective donors
Research Narrative
Natural killer (NK) have been implicated in control and clearance of malignant and virally infected cells, regulation of adaptive immune responses, rejection of bone marrow transplants, autoimmunity and the maintenance of pregnancy. Human NK cells largely use a family of Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)-specific Killer cell Immunoglobulin-like Receptors (KIR) to recognize and respond to the unhealthy target cells. KIR and HLA loci are both polygenic and substantially polymorphic, and they map to distinct human chromosomes (Chromosomes 19 and 6, respectively).
KIR and HLA gene families segregate independently, yielding many individuals who express KIR receptors for which they lack HLA class I ligands, and vice versa, thus creating human diversity in the number and type of KIR-HLA inherited gene pairs, which potentially could influence the health and disease status of a given individual. The overall goal of our research is to understand the diversity of KIR receptors, HLA ligands, and KIR-HLA gene combinations in populations and their relevance in human health and disease.
Publications
- A Scan of Pleiotropic Immune Mediated Disease Genes Identifies Novel Determinants of Baseline FVIII Inhibitor Status in Hemophilia-A.| | PubMed
- COVID-19 infection and vaccination rarely impact HLA antibody profile in waitlisted renal transplant candidates- a multicenter cohort.| | PubMed
- Experimental and clinical data analysis for identification of COVID-19 resistant ACE2 mutations.| | PubMed
- Human Bone Marrow Plasma Cell Atlas: Maturation and Survival Pathways Unraveled by Single Cell Analyses.| | PubMed
- CD16+ natural killer cells in bronchoalveolar lavage are associated with antibody-mediated rejection and chronic lung allograft dysfunction.| | PubMed
- Protection of cell therapeutics from antibody-mediated killing by CD64 overexpression.| | PubMed
- KIR-HLA gene diversities and susceptibility to lung cancer.| | PubMed
- Individualized Constellation of Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-Like Receptors and Cognate HLA Class I Ligands that Controls Natural Killer Cell Antiviral Immunity Predisposes COVID-19.| | PubMed
- Concurrent use of two independent methods prevents erroneous HLA typing of deceased organ donors - An important strategy for patient safety and accurate virtual crossmatching for broader sharing.| | PubMed
- Solid-Phase C1q/C3d Fixing Readouts Correlate with High Median Fluorescence Intensity (MFI) De Novo Donor-Specific HLA Antibodies and C4dāŗ Antibody-Mediated Rejection in Kidney Transplant Recipients.| | PubMed