Vishwanath Venketaraman

Upon completion of his doctorate in microbiology and immunology at the Tuberculosis Research Center in Chennai, India, Dr. Venketaraman was awarded a UNESCO fellowship to conduct post-doctoral research on tuberculosis at the University of Ferrara, Italy. Dr. Venketaraman continued his post-doctoral research at the University of Michigan Medical School and at the UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School. Mycobacterial research has always fascinated Dr. Venketaraman, especially in characterization of the host immune defense mechanisms that are crucial for the control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Dr. Venketaraman has published more than 22 papers in peer-reviewed journals, and is currently an Assistant Professor at the College of Osteopathic Medicine of Pacific, Western University of Health Sciences, CA. His laboratory is actively trying to elucidate the role of glutathione in enhancing the host immune cell functions to control of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a novel and previously undescribed phenomenon. More than eight publications were generated from this body of work. Most notably, the study on glutathione enhancing the functions of natural killer cells to control Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection, which was published in 2008 issue of “Journal of Interferon and cytokine research” and later cited in “Natural Immunology” as well as appeared on the cover page of the recent issue of “Journal of Interferon and Cytokine research” (March 2010). Dr. Venketaraman’s long term goal is to discover immunomodulatory agents that can be given an adjunct to chemotherapy for controlling Mycobacterium tuberculosis infections in both non-HIV and HIV-infected individuals.