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Research led by Indian origin investigator awarded $5 million grant
Dharnidharka, originally from India, obtained his medical degree from Topiwala National Medical College in Bombay.
Representative Image / Image - Washington University in St. Louis
Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have been awarded a $5.7 million grant by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This grant will support their investigative efforts to study immune responses in children who have undergone organ transplantation in the context of a cancer-causing virus.
“It is a double hit,” said lead principal investigator Vikas Dharnidharka, the Alexis F. Hartmann Sr., endowed professor of Pediatrics. “We are transplanting organs infected with a cancer-causing virus while dampening the recipient’s immune system. Immune surveillance is needed to prevent cancer, but immunosuppressants are needed to prevent organ rejection. If we understand how the immune system is responding — or not — to the virus, maybe we can predict which children will develop cancer and prevent it from occurring.”
“I couldn’t believe how little was known about it,” Dharnidharka said. “It has since become my passion to add knowledge to the field. Until we understand what is going wrong, we can’t find therapeutic targets. I hope for a future in which post-transplant lymphoproliferative disorders are never heard of again.”
Originally from India, Dharnidharka obtained his medical degree. He also completed an advanced postgraduate program in clinical investigation and achieved a master's degree in public health from the University of Florida.
He finalized his internship at Topiwala National Medical College and Bombay University, followed by residencies at BYL Nair Hospital and Topiwala National Medical College, as well as Children’s Hospital of Michigan and Wayne State University. Additionally, Dharnidharka completed a pediatric nephrology fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.
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