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
- Distinct diversity of KIR genes in three southern Indian populations: comparison with world populations revealed a link between KIR gene content and pre-historic human migrations.| | PubMed
- Comparison of the rapidly evolving KIR locus in Parsis and natives of India.| | PubMed
- Combination of KIR and HLA gene variants augments the risk of developing birdshot chorioretinopathy in HLA-A*29-positive individuals.| | PubMed
- Chain-terminating natural mutations affect the function of activating KIR receptors 3DS1 and 2DS3.| | PubMed
- Killer cell immunoglobulin-like receptors influence the innate and adaptive immune responses.| | PubMed
- Receptor-ligand analyses define minimal killer cell Ig-like receptor (KIR) in humans.| | PubMed
- HLA-DRB1 and -DQB1 alleles in mestizo patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada's disease in Southern California.| | PubMed
- Human leukocyte antigen A29 subtypes associated with birdshot retinochoroidopathy.| | PubMed
- A sequencing-based typing method for HLA-DQA1 alleles.| | PubMed
- Anti-HLA class I antibody-mediated activation of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway and induction of Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL expression in endothelial cells.| | PubMed