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DLACS Graduate Students

Naveen Surendran

Naveen Surendran, BVSc & AH

PhD Candidate, Immunology
Department of Large Animal Clinical Sciences
Graduate Advisor: Dr. Sharon Witonsky
 
e-mail: naveenan@vt.edu


Education

2004 BVSc&AH Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry
College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences
Kerala Agricultural University
Kerala, India

Board Certification

2004 Kerala Veterinary Council
Kerala, India
Certified to practice Veterinary Medicine in Kerala State, India

Research Project Involvement

Mechanisms of host-pathogen interaction and immunity in infectious diseases: My research focuses on mechanisms of protection and subversion associated with Brucella abortus in a respiratory model. Within that broader area, my primary focus is on pulmonary mucosal immune response to aerosol Brucella infection. Brucella spp. are Gram- negative facultative intracellular bacterial pathogens classified as Class B pathogens by Center for Disease Control and prevention (CDC) due to its zoonotic as well as bioterrorism potential. Brucella spp. are the causative agent of chronic debilitating disease in humans and chronic devastating reproductive problems in livestock worldwide. There is no human vaccine available to date. One of the major routes of zoonotic Brucella transmission is through aerosol via inhalation along with other routes such as ingestion and contact exposure. Therefore, mucosal immunity is the first line of defense against brucellosis. In our lab, we have developed a respiratory mouse model of Brucella infection using susceptible BALB/c mice to simulate aerosol exposure. The preliminary results from our lab show that mice vaccinated intranasally (IN) with B. abortus rough vaccine strain RB51, lacking o- side chain of LPS (USDA approved vaccine strain for livestock), do not afford protection against IN challenge with virulent 2308 strain, in contrast to protection afforded by the IP vaccination on IP infection models as shown by other researchers (Vemulapalli et al., 2000). My aim is to elucidate the immunological mechanisms involved in this lack of protection associated with aerosol Brucella challenge by employing both in vitro and in vivo experimental models.


Professional Experience

2005 Research Assistant - Center for Advanced Studies in Animal Genetics and Breeding
Kerala Agricultural University
India

Professional Memberships

  • American Association of Immunologists
  • American Society for Microbiology
  • Biomedical & Veterinary Sciences Graduate Student Association

Awards and Honors

  • Second Prize, Poster titled “Interaction of Brucella abortus rough and smooth strains with mouse bone marrow derived dendritic cells” – Brucellosis 2008 International conference, 10-13 September 2008 at the Royal Holloway college, University of London, London, UK.
  • Second Prize, Poster titled “DEVELOPMENT OF RESPIRATORY MODEL FOR BRUCELLA ABORTUS” – 19th Annual research symposium, 15-16 May, 2007 at VMRCVM, Virginia Tech.