Postdoctoral Multi-Omics Bioinformatics Researcher

Venugopalareddy Mekala, Ph.D

Postdoctoral scholar, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), USA

Nutrition Sciences Research, Dr.Ritu Aneja Lab.

Email: *********************.*******@*****.***

Phone: +1-346-***-****

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/venugopalareddy-mekala-phd-56807658

GitHub: https://github.com/venu887

Google Scholar: https://shorturl.at/liHNT

AACR Associate member: AACR ID:1451526

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Computational Biology: Bioinformatics analysis, Transcriptomics (Bulk, Small, and Single-cell RNA-seq, Spatial), Epigenomics, and Spatial Transcriptomics.

Clinical Applications: Statistical Prognostic Models, Machine Learning in Oncology, Clinical Trials, and Cancer Immunology.

Technical Pipelines: Nextflow, CellRanger (10X Genomics), miRDeep2, and standard NGS-RNAseq pipelines.

EDUCATION:

Ph.D. in Bioinformatics Asia University, Taiwan 2022

oDepartment of Bioinformatics and Medical Engineering

Master of Pharmacy (Pharmacology) Andhra University, India 2017

oCollege of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Bachelor of Pharmacy Andhra University, India 2013

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

Postdoctoral Scholar University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), USA September 2025 – Present.

Focusing on Nutrition Sciences Research and integrative multi-omics.

Postdoctoral Associate Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA July 2023 – August 2025.

Project Leadership: Led a major study on epigenetic modifier aberrations to predict clinical outcomes in bladder cancer.

Single-Cell Analysis: Identified protective plasma cell sub-populations in recurrent lung adenocarcinoma and investigated immune cell roles in male breast cancer using scRNA-seq datasets.

Collaboration: Actively managed multi-disciplinary initiatives across cancer immunology and transcriptomics.

Postdoctoral Fellow Academia Sinica, New Taipei City, Taiwan January 2023 – July 2023

Utilized whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to identify rare variants associated with gout in the Taiwanese population.

Developed machine learning models to predict patient immunotherapy responses using clinical and transcriptomic data.

Research Assistant Osmania University, Hyderabad, India September 2017 – January 2019

Investigated the downregulation of Calcineurin and its role in cervical cancer progression (SERB-funded project).

EDITORIAL & PROFESSIONAL MERITS

Editorial Roles

Guest Editor: PLOS Computational Biology

Editorial Board Member: Bioinformatics Methods and Applications

Editorial Review Board Member: Biomedical Engineering and Computational Biology

Active Journal Peer Reviewer

American Journal of Cancer Research

American Journal of Case Reports

Biochemical Genetics

Biomedical Engineering and Computational Biology

Computational Biology (Oxford University Press)

Journal of Bioinformatics & Computational Biology (JBCB)

Medical Science Monitor

Bentham Science Publishers

Review Impact (2024–Present)

Manuscripts Reviewed: 11

eBook Proposals Reviewed: 1

HONORS & MEDIA RECOGNITION

Award: 2nd Prize, Best Poster Presentation – 9th National IPA Student Congress, India (2017). Event link.

Featured Research: "Mapping Epigenetic regulator changes in Bladder Cancer reveals new clues for immunotherapy" – IndiaBioscience (2025). Link to News Article.

Opinion Piece: "Why early-career cancer researchers need to embrace bioinformatics" – The Cancer Researcher (EACR). Link to Article

Institutional Video: Ph.D. Research featured as video by Asia University.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Computational: R, Python, Linux/Unix, Nextflow, Machine Learning, High-Performance Computing (HPC).

Wet Lab: RT-PCR, ELISA, Western Blotting, Immunohistochemistry (Trained at University of Malaya, Malaysia).

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES:

1.CRD Conference, Boston (2023): "Effect of epigenetic regulators on clinical outcomes in bladder cancer." Venugopalareddy Mekala, Xiang Wang, Chao Cheng. Link.

2.The 2nd Bioinformatics and Biodiversity Conference (BBC), Indonesia (2021): "Identification of key prognosis-related micro-RNAs in early- and late-stage gynecological cancer based on TCGA data." Venugopala Reddy Mekala, Ka-Lok Ng. Link.

3.National Conference on Recent Advances in Pharmaceutical Industry and Drug Development (RAPID), Hyderabad, India (2017): "Evaluation of Hypoglycemic and Antihyperglycemic activity of Hydroxycitric Acid in Streptazotocin Induced Diabetic Rats." Supported by SERB (Science and Engineering Research Board). Link.

4.9th National IPA Student Congress, India (2017): "Evaluation of antihyperglycemic activity of Epilobium parviflorum in HFD-FRU-STZ induced diabetic rats." Awarded 2nd Prize, Best Poster Presentation. Link.

5.University of Malaya, Malaysia (2017): "Immunohistochemistry Hands-on Workshop." Organized by the Department of Physiology.

PUBLICATIONS:

Ongoing Projects:

1.Venugopalareddy Mekala, “Analysis of Spatial Transcriptomics Data from Triple Negative Breast Cancer Tissue” (Ongoing Project-2026)

2.Project-3: “Transcriptomic Rewiring and Metabolic Regulation in Inducible Liver-Specific Huwe1 Knockout Mice Revealed by RNA-seq and Transcription Factor Enrichment Analysis.” Manabu Kurokawa (middle Author, Ongoing Project-2026).

3.Project-2: “Immune Pathway Enrichment in RC Mutant Mouse Embryonic Fibroblasts(MEF) Compared to Wild-Type (WT) Controls”. Manabu Kurokawa (middle Author, Ongoing Project-2026).

4.Venugopalareddy Mekala, JianRong Li, Manabu Kurokawa, Chao Cheng, “Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals the protecting immune cells in male breast cancer compared with female breast cancer patients”, 2026 (Manuscript under final writing).

Under Review:

5.Vinitha Ganesan, Priyam Singh, Venugopalareddy Mekala, Anita Chaudhary, Huiru Dong, Chakravarthy Garlapati, Sahil Bajaj, Andrei Chernov, Sung Jung, Vandana Kalia, Surojit Sarkar, Kalaivani Raju, Nathaniel Mercaldo, Jagpreet Chhatwal, Ritu Aneja. “Integrative Multi-Omics Profiling Reveals Biological Effects of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga in a Randomized Controlled Study”, (Clinical Trails: Targeted journal: Nature Special Stress and Health, Our paper is on Cell Press SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=6885663, June, 2026).

6.Venugopalareddy Mekala, Vikram R. Shaw, Jianrong Li, Zijian Zhang, Xiang Wang, Yupei Lin, Naail Chowdhury, Sung Wook Kang, Hee-Jin Jang, Claire Lee, Priyanka Ranchod, Bryan M. Burt, Hyun-Sung Lee, Yanhong Liu, Christopher I Amos & Chao Cheng, “Integrative Analysis Reveals Protective Role of Plasma B-Cells in Preventing Lung Adenocarcinoma Recurrence”, (May 2026, The Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI))

7.Project-1: Sandeep Kaur, Venugopalareddy Mekala, Fangfang Wang, Franklin Mayca Pozo, Leticia Fernandez Dinten, P ayton Ciolli, Kayleigh A. Bucci, Andrew D. Whitfield, Peighton N. Neuman, Scott M. Palisoul, Hanbin Mao, Gary K. Koski, Cathy B. Moelans, Chao Cheng, Youwei Zhang, Manabu Kurokawa, “UBE2L3 is a male-specific breast cancer suppressor”. Nature Cancer (Under review Nature Journal, 2025)

8.Lin, Yupei, Venugopalareddy Mekala, Jianrong Li, Xiang Wang, Muhammad Aminu, Jia Wu, Jianjun Zhang, Robert Taylor Ripley, Christopher I. Amos, and Chao Cheng. Fine-scale Spatial heterogeneity of tumor microenvironment revealed by Imaging Mass Cytometry data. Nature Communications Biology (June 2026: BMC Cancer)

Online:

9.Boda, Akash R., Irfan N. Bandey, Saikat Chowdhury, Sadhna Aggarwal, Venugopalareddy Mekala, Natalie Wall Fowlkes, Amanda Anderson et al. "IL1R1 blockade augments CD40 agonist mediated immunity in pancreatic cancer." Scientific Reports (2026).

10.Rajaratnam, Saiswaroop, Danthasinghe Waduge Badrajee Piyarathna, Ranjit K. Mehta, Venugopalareddy Mekala, Jun Hyoung Park, Uttam Rasaily, Vani Venkatappa et al. "DHODH links mitochondrial bioenergetics, one-carbon metabolism, and DNA repair to sustain aggressive prostate adenocarcinoma." Cell Communication and Signaling (2026).

11.Lin, Yupei, Venugopalareddy Mekala, Jianrong Li, Xiang Wang, Muhammad Aminu, Jia Wu, Jianjun Zhang, Robert Taylor Ripley, Christopher I. Amos, and Chao Cheng. "Gene signatures characterizing driver mutations in lung squamous carcinoma are predictive of the progression of pre cancer lesions." International journal of cancer (2025).

12.Mekala, Venugopalareddy, Yupei Lin, Xiang Wang, Naail Chowdhury, Jianrong Li, and Chao Cheng. "Integrative Analysis Reveals the Prognostic Effects of Epigenetic Regulators in Bladder Cancer." Cancer Medicine 14, no. 14 (2025): e71057.

13.Astuti A, Shih PK, Lee SC, Mekala VR, Wijaya EB, Ng KL. Use of hybrid quantum-classical algorithms for enhancing biomarker classification. PloS one. 2025 Jul 17;20(7):e0327928.

14.Tseng YP, Chang YS, Mekala VR, Liu TY, Chang JG, Shieh GS. Whole-genome sequencing reveals rare variants associated with gout in Taiwanese males. Frontiers in Genetics. 2024 Sep 25;15:1423714.

15.Zaenudin E, Wijaya EB, Mekala VR, Ng KL. Network Subgraph-based Method: Alignment-free Technique for Molecular Network Analysis. Current Bioinformatics. 2024 Oct 1;19(8):777-92.

16.Wijaya, Ezra B., Venugopala Reddy Mekala, Efendi Zaenudin, and Ka-Lok Ng. "In silico Study of Clinical Prognosis Associated MicroRNAs for Patients with Metastasis in Clear Cell Renal Carcinoma." Current Bioinformatics 19, no. 2 (2024): 174-192.

17.Cong, Nguyen Manh, Hsueh-Chuan Liu, Venugopala Reddy Mekala, Efendi Zaenudin, Ezra Bernardus Wijaya, and Ka-Lok Ng. "Identify Gene-gene Regulatory Modules for Patients with Renal Clear Cell Tumor Metastasis." In Lecture Notes in Engineering and Computer Science: Proceedings of The World Congress on Engineering, vol. 2245, pp. 31-35. 2023.

18.Li, T.Y., Mekala, V.R., Ng, K.L. and Su, C.F., 2022, November. Classification of Tumor Metastasis Data by Using Quantum kernel-based Algorithms. In 2022 IEEE 22nd International Conference on Bioinformatics and Bioengineering (BIBE) (pp. 351-354). IEEE.

19.Liu, H.C., Ng, K.L., Mekala, V.R. and Huang, C.H., 2023. TMMGdb-Tumor Metastasis Mechanism-associated Gene Database. Current Bioinformatics, 18(1), pp.63-75.

20.Mekala, V.R., Hui-Shan, C., Jan-Gowth, C. and Ng, K.L., 2022. Identification of Key Prognosis-related microRNAs in Early-and Late-Stage Gynaecological Cancers Based on TCGA Data. Current Bioinformatics, 17(9), pp.860-872.

21.Mekala, V.R., Chang, J.G. and Ng, K.L., 2022. Analysis of Novel Variants Associated with Three Human Ovarian Cancer Cell Lines. Current Bioinformatics, 17(4), pp.380-392.

22.Dharmasoth Rama Devi, Ganga Rao Battu, Venu Gopal Reddy Mekala, Chandi Vishala, Polimati Haritha, K. Basavaiah, “Hapatoprotective Effect of Grewia Tiliaefolia Vahl Extracts On Wistar Albino Rats.” Nat. Volatiles & Essent. Oils, 2021; 8(4): 162**-*****.

23.Efendi Zaenudin, Ezra Bernadus Wijaya, Eskezeia Yihunie Dessie, Mekala Venugopala Reddy, Jeffrey J.P. Tsai, Chien-Hung Huang, and Ka-Lok Ng, "A Parallel Algorithm to Generate Connected Network Motifs," IAENG International Journal of Computer Science, vol. 46, no.4, pp518-523, 2019.

24.Bugata Lakshmi Sai Pratyusha, Prabhakar Pitta Venkata, Ananth Reddy Gundu, Rahman Mohammed Fazlur, Utkarsh A. Reddy, Jerald Mahesh Kumar, Venugopala Reddy Mekala, Sreedhar Bojja, and Mohammed Mahboob. "Acute and subacute oral toxicity of copper oxide nanoparticles in female albino Wistar rats." Journal of Applied Toxicology 39, no. 5 (2019): 702-716.

25.Dharmasoth Rama Devi, Venugopalareddy Mekala and B Ganga Rao. Pharmacognostic evaluation, fluorescence and TLC analysis of Peltophorum pterocarpum (Dc.) backer ex heyne leaves. International Journal of Herbal MedicineVol. 7, Issue 2, Part A (2019).

26.Venugopala Reddy Mekala. “Anti-Diabetic activity of reported medical and aromatic plants: a review”. World Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, Volume 7, Issue 07, 2019-2040. ISSN 2277–7105.

27.Venugopala Reddy Mekala, Srinu P, Swathi P, Eswar Kumar K. “Effect of Aqueous Peel Extract of Prunus Dulcis on in-vitro antioxidant activity”, e-ISSN:2278-3008, p-ISSN:2319-7676. Volume 13, Issue 1 Ver. V (Jan.-Feb.2018), PP 5157.

THESIS SUMMARY

Ph.D. Dissertation: Whole exome sequencing for identification and Analysis of novel variants in ovarian cancer cell lines.

Conducted NGS analysis across three cell line stages, identifying novel variants affecting protein stability and validated via PCR.

Master’s Thesis: Evaluation of Hypoglycaemic and Antihyperglycemic Activity of Mono Ammonium Glyccyrrhizinate (MAG).

Demonstrated that MAG’s antidiabetic potential is mediated through incretin hormones rather than direct pancreatic β-cell effects.

Contact this candidate