Name: Sriram Ramanan     

Email address: sramanan@wfubmc.edu       

Education:      B.S

Advisor/Lab:  Dr. Mike Robbins PhD

Current Research:  My project involves the identification of anti-inflammatory strategies to alleviate radiation-induced brain injury, a clinical problem which leads to deterioration of cognitive function in patients receiving whole brain radiation therapy for brain metastases and ultimately consequents in loss of quality of life. Recent studies suggest that radiation injury is associated with an inflammatory response and/or an oxidative stress response in the brain characterized by decreased hippocampal neurogenesis and increased microglial activation. My research focuses on the activation of the peroxisomal-proliferator activated receptor g (PPARg), which are ligand-activated transcription factors that possess anti-inflammatory properties, to ameliorate the pro-inflammatory responses of the microglia following radiation-induced brain injury.  Since PPAR agonists are already in the clinic for treatment of hypertriglyceridemia and hypercholesteremia, these compounds present the promise of enhancing the therapeutic window for cancer patients receiving brain irradiation and impacting both their quality of life and long-term survival.

Publications:

1.  Liu,J.J., Zhang,J., Ramanan,S., Julian,J., Carson,D.D., and Hooi,S.C. (2004). Heparin/heparan sulfate interacting protein plays a role in apoptosis induced by anticancer drugs. Carcinogenesis 25, 873-879.

2.  Zhang,J., Wong,H., Ramanan,S., Cheong,D., Leong,A., and Hooi,S.C. (2003). The    proline-rich acidic protein is epigenetically regulated and inhibits growth of cancer cell lines. Cancer Res 63, 6658-6665

Honors and Awards: 

Hobbies – Other:

I love listening to music. Also, in my free time, I play the guitar.