Vani Nilakantan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Transplant Surgery
Education: University of Delhi, Delhi, India, B.S.,Annamalai University, Chidambaram, India, M.S.,University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, M.S., University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, Ph.D.,
Link to Surgery Click here to see published articles NIH BIOSKETCH
Ischemia-reperfusion injury is a risk factor for kidney transplant rejection and is one of the leading causes of acute renal failure. The etiology of ischemic injury is complex involving a cascade of events including activation of inflammatory signaling pathways and oxidative stress. This predicament is observed in renal transplants that have been subjected to both warm and cold ischemia. My laboratory is interested in the role of oxidative and nitrative stress in acute renal failure and kidney transplantation. We use both animal models and cell culture systems in our work and utilize molecular and biochemical techniques.
We are currently working on projects: 1) to elucidate the antioxidant protective mechanisms in the Brown Norway (BN) rat, a strain that is resistant to acute renal failure, 2) to examine the transcriptional and posttranslational regulation of antioxidant proteins in acute renal failure and kidney transplantation, and 3) to determine the role of superoxide and nitric oxide in acute renal failure and kidney transplant rejection. Our overall goal is to help devise clinical strategies that target either oxidant producing systems or utilize antioxidant systems to limit acute renal failure and prevent delayed graft function.
Vani Nilakantan and her Research Associate, Huanling Liang.
Photos above: (Left) Jordan Mortensen, Research Technologist I, (right) Huanling Liang