Soumya Panigrahi MBBS
, PhD., is a senior research associate in the Department of Infectious Disease at Case Western Reserve University. He joined the lab with a wide range of background research training, and experiences in clinical medicine, clinical & translational research, with specific research expertise in molecular biology, immunofluorescence and immuno-histochemical techniques and data analyses. His current research includes NIH-funded projects investigating the relationships and interactions among CD8 T cells, platelets, monocytes, endothelial cells, and soluble coagulation factors that may underlie the increased cardiovascular disease risk experienced by HIV infected patients. His other research from the recent past were, studying the pathological significances of innate immunity receptors (TLRs) activation in platelets. Earlier, he discovered that a very specific biologically active region of the chicken anemia virus derived protein apoptin (VP3) can allosterically bind to the SH3 domain of BCR-ABL oncoprotein, and induce rapid apoptosis in chronic myeloid leukemia cells – an effect that is potentially superior to that of current gold standard BCR-ABL inhibitor imatinib. Soumya, also completed a clinical fellowship program in human bone marrow transplantation in Israel, where in addition to the regular clinical responsibilities, his focus of research was on ‘allogeneic cell therapy against malignancy’, and pre-clinical research for the ‘development of novel treatment for graft-versus- host disease (GVHD).