Project Manager

Kalyani Ramachandran Ph.D.

San Jose, CA ***** ************@*****.*** 512-966-

8782

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy, Human Genetics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland.

2014

Dissertation: Protective roles of miR29a and miR18a in liver fibrosis.

• Bachelor of Technology, Biotechnology, Anna University, India. GPA: 3.77. Magna cum laude

2006

Experience

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM), Transplant Surgery, PROJECT LEAD:

2011-13

• Independently designed and executed a project to analyze the role of miRNAs in liver fibrosis, 12th

leading cause of death in USA; setup alcoholic fibrosis model in rat and in-vitro liver cells

• Localized miR18a to specific liver cells and established its role in modulating TGF β signaling

pathway

• Identified novel mutual inhibitory feedback between miR18a and pro-fibrotic TGF β pathway,

suggestive of miR18a expression being a diagnostic indicator of liver fibrosis severity.

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM), Transplant Surgery, PROJECT CO-LEAD:

2009-11

• Identified fibrosis as first step of liver failure, and successfully demonstrated a curative strategy.

• Performed a global data analysis of miRNA expression during fibrosis using microarray and R

• Effectively proved that miR29 level restoration can prevent and reverse ongoing severe fibrosis,

manuscript submitted to Molecular Therapy

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM), RESEARCH ASSISTANT:

2006-09

• Characterized the p53 mediated up regulation of miR34a and correlated its influence on

apoptosis in human cancers, resulting in a publication in Molecular Cell

• Contributed to the identification of candidate cell death genes in yeast knockout collection under

extreme heat, resulting in publication in Cell Death Disease

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, India, INTERN:

2006

• Formulated a project to study interactions of metal ions with peptides using ESI-Mass Spectrometry

Skills: Molecular Biology

• Nucleotide analysis: Real-time PCR (fluorescent quantitative), Knowledge of Applied Biosystems

7900HT Fast Real-Time PCR System with robotic loading for gene expression, miRNA

quantification and viral load analysis, Sample preparation and Microarray analysis, Next GEN

sequencing (Illumina), RNA In-situ hybridization, RNA isolation (from tissues, blood), Northern blot,

RNA extraction from human paraffin embedded biopsy samples and human cells, Nucleotide

quantification, Primer design, Molecular cloning.

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• Protein analysis: Western blot and quantitative imaging (Odyssey), Immunofluorescence,

Immunohistochemistry, Confocal microscopy, protein quantification (Bradford, BCA)

• Culture and animal handling: Mammalian cell culture and transfection, Luciferase assays, mice

genotyping and dissection, tissue harvesting, fixation and processing, Electrophoresis (agarose and

polyacrylamide).

Kalyani Ramachandran

Programming and computer skills

• Bio-statistics and proficiency in R

• Independent course work in Python, emphasis on coding for biology including primer design

• Microsoft Office Suite – Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Photoshop

Professional Awards

• Gold Medal for first rank (out of 4000 students) in Biotechnology, Anna University, India

2006

Cash prize awarded (10,000 rupees)

• Fellowship, Indian Academy of Sciences, India 2005

Leadership experience

Event Publicity Manager, JHUMOOR, Baltimore, MD

2007-11

• Coordinated performances; created promotional concepts to expand publicity

Executive, Students Union, Anna University, India 2005

• Elected to be co-chair of a 4000 member student’s representative council; Organized a statewide

symposium on progress of biotechnology in India and promoted industry- student entrepreneurship

Selected Publications and Presentations

Ramachandran K, Creamer T, Ota Y, Warren DS. miR-18a is upregulated in alcohol mediated liver

fibrosis and regulates components of TGFβ signaling pathway. (Manuscript in preparation). 2014

Knabel M*, Ramachandran K*,Karhadkar S, Hwang H, Creamer T, Chivukula RR, Sheikh F, Clark KR,

Torbenson M, Montgomery RA, Cameron AM, Mendell JT, Warren DS. Systemic delivery of scAAV8-encoded

miR-29a ameliorates hepatic fibrosis in carbon tetrachloride-treated mice Molecular Therapy. (Under

review) (* co-first authors). 2014

Maeda H, Ota Y, Wang Y, Ramachandran K, Montgomery RA, Williams GM, Sun Z.

Contribution of extrahepatic small cells resembling small hepatocyte-like progenitor cells to liver mass

maintenance in transplantation model of retrorsine-pretreated liver. Springer plus. 2013

Chang TC, Wentzel EA, Kent OA, Ramachandran K, Mullendore M, Lee KH, Feldmann G,

Yamakuchi M, Ferlito M, Lowenstein CJ, Arking DE, Beer MA, Maitra A, Mendell JT. Transactivation of

miR-34a by p53 broadly influences gene expression and promotes apoptosis. Molecular Cell. 2007

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Ramachandran K, Chau NB, Hardwick, MJ. Role of Bcl-xl protein AVEN in Apoptosis and Transcription.

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cell Death meeting. 2009

Professional Activities

• Member of Biomedical Scholars Association (BSA), a diversity celebrating club, JHU

2006-13

• Member of Association for women in science (AWIS), Baltimore chapter

2009-13

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