Dr. Ramakrishnan’s research interest is to understand the role of gastrointestinal hypoxia signaling in metabolism, obesity, type 2 diabetes and cancer. Tissues constantly experience a dynamic change in cellular oxygen levels influenced by oxygen consumption and utilization. Cellular response to changes in oxygen tension is mediated at the molecular level by the highly conserved transcription factors, hypoxia-inducible transcription factor (HIF). Numerous studies have established the important roles of hypoxia signaling in various pathological disease models. However, the physiological role of hypoxia signaling is not well understood. The overarching goal of Dr. Ramakrishnan's research program is to determine the conserved role of hypoxia signaling in metabolic elasticity as an impetus to design effective therapies to treat metabolic diseases and their complications. The goals of his research are to: (i) determine the mechanisms by which the physiological cues activate hypoxic responses, (ii) determine the role of hypoxic signaling in the sensing and regulation of metabolic homeostasis, (iii) determine the role of hypoxia-mediated metabolic adaptation in cancer and (iv) identify isoform specificity and therapeutic use of HIFs in metabolic diseases and cancer.
- DVM, Rajiv Gandhi College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, 2004
- MS, Indian Veterinary Research Institute, 2006
- PhD, University of Toledo, 2012
- Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Michigan
Education & Training
Ramakrishnan, S. K., Zhang, H., Ma, X., Jung, I., Schwartz, A. J., Triner, D., Devenport, S. N., Das, N. K., Xue, X., Zeng, M. Y., Hu, Y., Mortensen, R. M., Greenson, J. K., Cascalho, M., Wobus, C. E., Colacino, J. A., Nunez, G., Rui, L., Shah, Y. M. Intestinal non-canonical NF?B signaling shapes the local and systemic immune response. Nat Commun. 2019; 10(1): 660.
Suresh, M. V., Balijepalli, S., Zhang, B., Singh, W., Swamy, S., Panicker, S., Dolgachev, V. A., Subramanian, C., Ramakrishnan, S. K., Thomas, B., Rao, T. C., Delano, M. J., Machado-Aranda, D., Shah, Y. M., Raghavendran, K. Hypoxia-Inducible Factor (HIF)-1a Promotes Inflammation and Injury Following Aspiration-Induced Lung Injury in Mice. Shock. 2018; Epub ahead of print.
Triner, D., Devenport, S. N., Ramakrishnan, S. K., Ma, X., Frieler, R. A., Greenson, J. K., Inohara, N., Nunez, G., Colacino, J. A., Mortensen, R. M., Shah, Y. M. Neutrophils Restrict Tumor-Associated Microbiota to Reduce Growth and Invasion of Colon Tumors in Mice. Gastroenterology. 2018; S0016-5085(18): 35399-X.
Schwartz, A. J., Das, N. K., Ramakrishnan, S. K., Jain, C., Jurkovic, M., Wu, J., Nemeth, E., Lakhal-Littleton, S., Colacino, J. A., Shah, Y. M. Hepatic hepcidin/intestinal HIF-2a axis maintains iron absorption during iron deficiency and overload. J Clin Invest. 2018; 129(1): 336-348.
Turula, H., Bragazzi Cunha, J., Mainou, B. A., Ramakrishnan, S. K., Wilke, C. A., Gonzalez-Hernandez, M. B., Pry, A., Fava, J., Bassis, C. M., Edelman, J., Shah, Y. M., Corthesy, B., Moore, B. B., Wobus, C. E. Natural Secretory Immunoglobulins Promote Enteric Viral Infections. J Virol. 2018; Epub ahead of print.
Ramakrishnan SK, Shah YM. A central role for hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-2? in hepatic glucose homeostasis. Nutrition and Healthy Aging. 2017
McEnerney, L., Dunacn, K., Bang, B. R., Elmasry, S., Li, M., Miki, T., Ramakrishnan, S. K., Shah, Y. M., Saito, T. Dual modulation of human hepatic zonation via canonical and non-canonical Wnt pathways. Exp Mol Med. 2017; 49(12): e413.
Schofield HK, Park M, Ramakrishnan SK, Kim E, Shi J, Omary MB, Shah YM, Pasca di Magliano M. Pancreatic HIF2 overexpression results in disrupted morphology resembling human chronic pancreatitis and mucinous cystic neoplasm. CMGH. 2017
Xie C, Yagai T, Sun D, Wang Q, Liang X, Jiang C, Li J, Ramakrishnan SK, Xue X, Krausz KW, Liu Y, Shah YM, Jiang C, Gonzalez FJ. Activation of intestinal hypoxia-inducible factor 2a during obesity mediates non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Nat Med. 2017
McEnerney L, Duncan K, Bang B, Elmasry S, Li M, Miki T, Ramakrishnan S, Shah Y, Saito T. Canonical and Non-canonical Wnt pathways Dual-Modulation of Human Hepatic Zonation. J Experimental and Molecular Medicine. 2017
- American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2015
- Donna Dickenson Sublett Award for Advancement of Cardiovascular Research, American Heart Association, 2015
- Cozzarelli Prize from the National Academy of Sciences, 2016
- Postdoctoral Research Award, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2016
- K99 NIDDK Pathway to Independence, 2016-2021
