I am an investigator with demonstrated expertise and a passion for studying pathologies associated with autoimmune diseases such as arthritis and vasculitis. The current focus of the Chakravarti Laboratory is to research cytokine signaling in arthritis and its related pathologies. In particular, we study the role of 14-3-3z, an intracellular protein with well-known adaptor functions, in immune regulations. We first identified a new auto-antigenic property of 14-3-3z (Arthritis & Rheumatology-2015). My experience examining adaptor proteins (Proc Natl Acad Sci-2010, JBC-2012, FRBM-2015, Structure-2015, JBC-2018) enabled me to pose fundamental questions to understand how this protein operates in the context of an autoimmune disease. Some of the highlights of our contributions include the following- (1) characterizing how exogenous 14-3-3z can skew human T cell polarization ex vivo and identifying unique epitopes that contribute to its specificity (PLoS One-2017, Front Immunol-2019, J Mol Med-2020), (2) demonstrated that 14-3-3z is uniquely essential for IL-17 receptor signaling to induce IL6 but negatively regulates CXCL1. This unique regulation requires interactions of TRAF proteins with 14-3-3z, which has functional consequences on IL-17A signaling (Proc Natl Acad Sci-2020, Immunobiology-2021). This project is currently funded by NIH-R01. My laboratory developed a novel CRISPR-Cas9-edited deletion rat model of 14-3-3z and demonstrated that 14-3-3z is essential to curb the severity of arthritis and strongly prevent inflammation-associated bone loss (Proc Natl Acad Sci-2021). The project has resulted in one successful US patent application and attracted significant media attention from 60 news outlets, including BBC World News Radio. This attention underscores the importance of our work to millions suffering from inflammatory arthritis worldwide and, more importantly, ignites my curiosity to understand the mechanisms governing protection from bone loss and joint inflammation. We have received very encouraging feedback from the RA community worldwide, so we are determined to invest in it and bring it to clinical trials to relieve millions. To understand how 14-3-3z plays an immune suppressive role in arthritis, we examined its role in RANKL-mediated bone loss. We determined a novel mechanism of its action (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2024). We are further investigating the human connection of 14-3-3z to pathologies during bioinformatics analyses (Genes, 2024). 

My research has been funded by the National Institute of Health, Ohio Department of Health, American Heart Association, Vasculitis Foundation, and CSTR grants. 

In addition to collaborative research, I have important education and service components. I have trained more than 15 post-graduate students, 10 medical students, and three technicians in lab research and management. At the college level, I serve as Course Director of ‘Basis of Cellular Signaling’ in the College of Graduate Studies (for the last five years) and the “Medical Student’s Summer Research” program. I have served as director of the 'Molecular Medicine' graduate track, coordinator of the 'Pre-Med Summer Camp' at the College of Medicine & Life Sciences, and coordinator of the 'Training Leaders Club' at the Department of Physiology & Pharmacology. I am heavily involved in teaching and advising students in the MD curriculum. I teach several topics related to cellular signaling and cardiovascular and pulmonary physiology to 1st and 2nd-year medical students. I also co-led learning pod sessions for 10-12 first-year MD students to educate them on various professional and scientific issues for three years. Currently, I am vice president of the COMLS Faculty Council. I also represent COMLS at the Faculty Council and IACUC committee at the institutional level.

Overall, I am a curious researcher and an engaging teacher.