Sreedhar Chinnaswamy

Biography

Year Degree University 2010 Ph.D Texas A&M University at College Station, TX 2005 MS New Mexico State University at Las Cruces, NM 2003 MVSc Indian Veterinary Research Institute, Izzatnagar, UP 1999 BVSc&AH Veterinary College, Bangalore Professional Memberships Calcutta Consortium for Human Genetics Awards/Honors Year Award 2014-17 Member, Infectious Disease Task Force, DBT, Govt. of India 2015-16 Visiting Scientist, Dept. of Immunology, Rheumatology & Allergy, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz 92- 213, Poland 2005 Deans List, NMSU 2000 JRF, ICAR for securing 3rd Rank in entrance exam for PG courses in Animal Biotechnology Invited/Special lectures Year Institute/meeting, Title of the talk 2008 American Society of Virology (ASV), 2008, annual conference, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, Title of talk: Molecular mechanism of RNA synthesis by the HCV RdRp 2010 Liver Foundation of West Bengal at School of Digestive and Liver Diseases, IPGME&R, Kolkata. Title of talk: HCV and Innate Immunity. 2010 Third Kolkata Liver meeting organized by the Liver Foundation of West Bengal at Vivekananda Institute of Medical Sciences, Kolkata. Title of talk: Contribution of viral factors to hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic HCV infections

Research Interest

SREEDHAR CHINNASWAMY research interest is in deciphering the genetics of host-pathogen interactions in infectious disease biology involving intracellular pathogens with a focus on innate immunity. I am interested in the role of the Type III interferons in priming and maintaining host immunity to intracellular pathogens and their role in autoimmunity. Currently, my research involves positive-strand RNA viruses like hepatitis C virus (HCV) and dengue virus (DENV) and the protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani that cause important human diseases. Pathogenesis is a phenomenon that is a result of pathogen-host-environment interactions. The role of host microenvironment in initiating an innate immune response to intracellular pathogens is poorly understood. It is noteworthy that some individuals in the population are more resistant to pathogen infections than others, underlying the importance of host genetic variation in pathogenesis. Identifying these genetic variants in the host can lead us to a better understanding of viral pathogenesis. For example: DENV is a flavivirus that causes acute febrile diseases in humans. While some individuals are asymptomatic, others show a mild and self-limiting fever (dengue fever, DF). A small proportion of DF cases progress to a fatal condition called dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) or dengue shock syndrome (DSS). These and many other similar examples (like that of HCV infections) show that host genetic variation is critical in deciding the outcome of a viral infection. Identifying the factors that play decisive roles in overcoming the infections by pathogens in the resistant population can help identify novel proteins which can be developed in to drugs to treat the susceptible population.