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Faculty Detail    
Name S.VAMSEE RAJU
Associate Professor
Office: 1918, University blvd, Room# MCLM 813 Phone: 205-934-2389		  
Campus Address MCLM 790 Zip 0005
Phone  (205) 934-2389
E-mail  svraju@uab.edu
Other websites
     

Education
Undergraduate  Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences Center, Bangalore, India.     2005  B.Pharmacy 
Graduate  Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, New Orleans, LA.     2011  Ph.D 
Fellowship  The University of Alabama at Birmingham    2013  Post Doctoral Fellowship 


Faculty Appointment(s)
Appointment Type Department Division Rank
Primary  Med - Pulmonary/Allergy/Critical Care  Med - Pulmonary/Allergy/Critical Care Associate Professor
Secondary  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology  Cell, Developmntl, & Integrative Biology Assistant Professor
Secondary  Environmental Health Sciences  Environmental Health Sciences Assistant Professor
Center  Cystic Fibrosis Research Center  Cystic Fibrosis Research Center Associate Professor
Center  Med - Pulmonary/Allergy/Critical Care  Lung Health Center Associate Professor
Center  UAB Immunology Institute  UAB Immunology Institute Associate Professor

Biographical Sketch 
S. Vamsee Raju, B.Pharm, PhD. is an Assistant Professor in the School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham. He received his Pharmacy degree from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences in 2005. During his Pharmacy training, he received a Fellowship from Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS) to train in the laboratory of DN Rao at Indian Institute of Science. In 2011, he graduated with a PhD in Genetics from Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans. His graduate research identified two entirely new mechanisms by which alcohol affects innate airway defenses to render its abusers susceptible to lung infections. He then went on to complete a 2-year postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Steven Rowe investigating acquired CFTR dysfunction in COPD pathogenesis, followed by an Instructor faculty position in the Department of Medicine in 2013. His work is published in several prestigious pulmonary Journals including the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, as well as the Journal of Immunology. His work has received recognition through awards from the European Respiratory Society, the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference, the American Thoracic Society and the American Federation of Medical Research.

Society Memberships
Organization Name Position Held Org Link
American Thoracic Society   RCMB Web Committee  http://www.thoracic.org/members/assemblies/assemblies/rcmb/working-groups/web-committee/roster.php 
 



Research/Clinical Interest
Title
Pharmacology of Airway Epithelium
Description
Ongoing research in the laboratory is focused on pathophysiologic mechanisms of altered epithelial ion transport and its implications on mucociliary clearance and mucosal immunity in COPD and alcoholic pneumonia. Current research is supported by institutional funds and extramural grants from American Lung Association, Flight Attendants Medical Research Institute, National Institutes of Health and pharmaceutical industry.

Selected Publications 
Publication PUBMEDID
Raju SV, Painter RG, Bagby GJ, Nelson S, Wang G. Response of Differentiated Human Airway Epithelia to Alcohol Exposure and Klebsiella pneumoniae Challenge. Med Sci 2013  25485141 
Raju SV, Tate JH, Peacock SK, Fang P, Oster RA, Dransfield MT, Rowe SM: Impact of heterozygote CFTR Mutations in COPD patients with Chronic Bronchitis. Respir Res 2014.
 		 24517344 
Lambert JA, Raju SV, Tang LP, McNicholas-Bevensee C, Li Y, Clifford CA, Dransfield MT, Bolger GB, Rowe SM. CFTR Activation By Roflumilast Contributes to Therapeutic Benefit in Chronic Bronchitis. Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol 2013.  24106801 
Raju SV, Jackson PL, Courville CA, McNicholas CM, Sloane PA, Sabbatini G, Tidwell S, Tang LP, Liu B, Fortenberry JA, Jones CW, Boydston JA, Clancy JP, Bowen L, Accurso FJ, Blalock JE, Dransfield MT, Rowe SM. Cigarette Smoke Induces Systemic Defects in Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) Function. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 2013.  24040746  
Rab A, Rowe SM, Raju SV, Bebok Z, Matalon S, Collawn JF. Cigarette Smoke and CFTR: Implications in the pathogenesis of COPD. American journal of physiology Lung cellular and molecular physiology 2013.  23934925 
Dransfield MT, Wilhelm AM, Flanagan B, Courville C, Tidwell SL, Raju SV, Gaggar A, Steele C, Tang LP, Liu B, Rowe SM. Acquired Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator Dysfunction in the Lower Airways in COPD. Chest 2013.  23538783 
Raju SV, Wang G. Suppression of adenosine-activated chloride transport by ethanol in airway epithelia. PLoS One 2012  22442662 
Gomez M*, Raju SV*, Viswanathan A, Painter RG, Bonvillain R, Byrne P, Nguyen DH, Bagby GJ, Kolls JK, Nelson S, Wang G. Ethanol upregulates glucocorticoid-induced leucine zipper expression and modulates cellular inflammatory responses in lung epithelial cells. Journal of immunology 2010. (Cover story May 2010, *Contributed equally for this work)  20382889  
 

Keywords
Epithelial ion transport, mucociliary clearance, COPD, Cystic Fibrosis, alcohol lung disease