Vishwanath Venketaraman - Assistant Professor of Microbiology/Immunology - COMP

College of Podiatric Medicine

Vishwanath Venketaraman - Assistant Professor of Microbiology/Immunology

Background

Dr. Venketaraman joined the faculty of the College of Osteopathic Medicine in January 2008.
1996	Ph.D., TB Immunology, Tuberculosis Research Center, Madras, India
1991	M.S., Biology, University of Madras, Madras, India
1989	B.S., Biology, University of Madras, Madras, India

Courses taught at Western University :

IDIT course (Microbiology and immunology)

Honors:

1. Dean s list during B. Sc and M. Sc.

2. Qualified National level Entrance Test conducted by Ministry of Human Resource and Development, India (University Grants Commission), for fellowships leading to doctoral research and eligibility for Lectureship in 1991.

3. 1997-Awarded UNESCO-fellowship, to conduct post-doctoral research on tuberculosis at University of Ferrara, Ferrara, ITALY.

4. Permanent reviewer for American Heart NE 4 study section (2006-2009).

5. Nominated as a member of research committee of American Heart Association-Heritage Affiliate (2006-2009). Role: Policy and decision making for grant funding and ethical issues involved in research

6. Ad-hoc reviewer for Scheffield Hospitals Charitable Trust, Medical Research Committee, UK Role: Review grants applications on Microbiology, Immunology, and infectious diseases (2007).

Research Interests:

Bacterial and viral pathogenesis
Innate immunity against M. tuberculosis infection with special reference to macrophages, natural killer (NK) cells and glutathione (GSH)
Cell mediated immunity against TB and HIV infection
Mycobacterial physiology
Immunity against oral bio-films causing bacteria
Immunity against select agents

Selected Peer Reviewed Publications:

Vishwanath V, Meera R, Puvanakrishnan R, Narayanan PR. Fate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis inside rat peritoneal macrophages in vitro. Molecular Cellular Biochemistry. 1997 Oct; 175 (1-2): 169-75.
2. Di Virgilio F, Chiozzi P, Falzoni S, Ferrari D, Sanz JM, Venketaraman V, Baricordi OR. Cytolytic P2X purinoceptors. Cell Death and Differentiation. 1998 Mar; 5(3): 191-9.
3. Marcy Peteroy-Kelly, Vishwanath Venketaraman and Nancy D. Connell. Effects of Mycobacterium bovis BCG infection on regulation of L-Arginine uptake and synthesis of reactive nitrogen intermediates in J774.1 murine macrophages. Infection and Immunity. 2001 Sep, 69(9): 5823-5831.
4. F Di Virgilio, V.Vishwanath, and D.Ferrari. On the role of P2X7 receptor in the immune system. Chapter 26 in Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology. Vol.151/IIPurinergic and Pyrimidinergic Signalling II Cardiovascular, Respiratory, Immune, Metabolic and Gastrointestinal function. Ed: M. P. Abbracchio and M. Williams. Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2001.
5. Vishwanath Venketaraman, Yaswant K. Dayaram, Amol.G.Amin, Richard Ngo, Renee M.Green, Meliza T. Talaue, Jessica Mann and Nancy D. Connell. Role of glutathione in macrophage control of mycobacteria. Infection and Immunity. 2003 April. Vol. 71:1864-1871.
6. Vishwanath Venketaraman, Meliza T. Talaue, Yaswant K. Dayaram, Marcy A. Peteroy-Kelly, Wei Bu and Nancy D. Connell. Nitric oxide regulation of L-arginine uptake in murine and human macrophages. Tuberculosis. 2003; 83(5):311-8.
7. Vishwanath Venketaraman and Nancy D. Connell. Glutathione and its role in human and bacterial cells, with special reference to tuberculosis infection. Recent Res. Devel. Bacteriol. 2004. 1:1-22. Transworld Research Network.
8. Venketaraman, V., Dayaram, Y. K., Talaue, M. T., and Connell, N. D. Glutathione and nitrosoglutathione in macrophage defense against M. tuberculosis. Infection and Immunity. March 2005; 73 (3):1886-1889.
9. Dayaram, Y. K., Talaue, M. T., Connell, N. D., and Venketaraman, V. Characterization of a glutathione metabolic mutant of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and its resistance to glutathione and nitrosoglutathione. J Bacteriology. 2006. Feb; 188 (4):1364-72.
10. Venketaraman, V; Rodgers, T; Linnares R; Reilly N; Swaminathan S; Hom D; Millman, AC; Wallis R; and Connell, N. D Tuberculosis immunity in healthy and HIV-infected subjects. AIDS Research and Therapy. 2006 February; 3 (1): 5.
11. Talaue, T., Venketaraman, V., Hazbon, M., Peteroy-Kelly, M., Seth, A., Alland, D., and Connell, N. D. Changes in L-arginine metabolism in J774.1 murine macrophages during M. bovis BCG infection. J Bacteriology. 2006 July; 188 (13):4830-40.
12. Venketaraman, V; Millman, AC; Salman, M; Swaminathan, S; Goetz, M; Lardizabal, A; Hom, D; and Connell, N. D. Glutathione levels and immune responses in tuberculosis patients. Microbial pathogenesis. 2008, 44(3): 255-261.
13. Millman AC, Salman M, Dayaram YK, Connell ND, Venketaraman V. Natural killer cells, glutathione, cytokines and innate immunity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research. 2008, 28 (3):153-65.
14. Venketaraman, V; Lin, A; Connell, N. D. and Kaplan JB. Poly-N-Acetylglucosamine surface polysaccharide protects Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans from macrophage killing. Microbial Pathogenesis. 2008 (in press).

Grant History:

Active Support:

Principal investigator: Vishwanath Venketaraman

Funding Organization: Potts Memorial Foundation

Total amount awarded: $30, 000

Inclusive dates of funding: 5-20-08 to 5-19-09

Title of the grant: Natural killer cells and innate defense against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.

Completed Grants

Principal Investigator: Vishwanath Venketaraman

Funding Organization: American Heart Association

Title of Award: Scientist Development Grant

Inclusive dates of funding: 7-1-03 to 6-30-06

Direct costs awarded: 180,000

Total amount awarded: 198,000

Title of the grant: Role of Glutathione and compounds in tuberculosis immunity

Principal Investigator: Vishwanath Venketaraman

Funding Organization: The Foundation of UMDNJ and the Dean s Biomedical

Research Support Program

Total amount awarded: $50,000

Inclusive dates of funding: 7-1-04-6-30-05

Title of the grant: Glutathione and tuberculosis immunity.

Last Updated:05/22/2009

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