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
- Cold reactive lymphocytotoxic antibodies in pulmonary tuberculosis: correlation with disease activity and HLA.| | PubMed
- Polymorphism in heat-shock protein 70-1 (HSP70-1) gene promoter region and susceptibility to tuberculoid leprosy and pulmonary tuberculosis in Asian Indians.| | PubMed
- KIR2DL5, a novel killer-cell receptor with a D0-D2 configuration of Ig-like domains.| | PubMed
- Rapid evolution of NK cell receptor systems demonstrated by comparison of chimpanzees and humans.| | PubMed
- A divergent non-classical class I gene conserved in salmonids.| | PubMed
- Polymorphic MHC molecules dictate cytokine profile and clinical disease in mycobacterial diseases.| | PubMed
- HLA class I profile in Asian Indian patients with pulmonary tuberculosis.| | PubMed
- HLA association and occurrence of autoantibodies in Asian-Indian patients with ulcerative colitis.| | PubMed
- Transporter associated with antigen-processing (TAP) genes and susceptibility to tuberculoid leprosy and pulmonary tuberculosis.| | PubMed
- HLA-DR polymorphism modulates the cytokine profile of Mycobacterium leprae HSP-reactive CD4+ T cells.| | PubMed