Prithvi Raj, Ph.D. Associate Professor School Medical School Department Immunology Biography Dr. Raj completed his masters and doctoral training from JU, Gwalior and JNU, New Delhi, India. His Ph.D. thesis work was focused on epidemiological and genetic analysis of pulmonary tuberculosis in tribal groups of Madhya Pradesh, India. One of the interesting findings from this work was establishment of LDH2 & LDH3 isoforms as markers of mycobacterial infection induced cellular stress in TB patients. His research identified pulmonary TB associated noncoding genetic polymorphisms in Vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene. During his postdoctoral training in Wakeland laboratory in the department of immunology at UT Southwestern Medical center, he investigated genetic basis of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). Using deep targeted sequencing approach, he made an important discovery demonstrating abundance of SLE associated noncoding, regulatory variations at HLA locus that impact transcription of several key genes of immune system that activate antigen presentation pathway to potentiate autoimmunity in individuals with risk genotype. Dr. Raj, joined the faculty of Immunology at UT Southwestern Medical Center in September 2018. He is the Founder Director of newly established Microbiome Research Laboratory (MRL) that provide cutting edge facilities to investigate and characterize communities of microorganisms sampled from variety of sources. Dr. Raj and his team at MRL provide microbial sequencing services to basic and translational investigators that are interested in microbiome research. Raj Lab investigates pediatric bloodstream infections to perform genomic analysis of pediatric pathogens. Beside this, Raj Lab is working on developing innovative sequencing based assays for rapid detection and comprehensive characterization of microbes in blood circulation. Research Interest Immune system and host genetics Microbial genomics Microbiome in health and disease Next generation sequencing Publications Featured Publications Lupus IgA1 autoantibodies synergize with IgG to enhance plasmacytoid dendritic cell responses to RNA-containing immune complexes. Waterman HR, Dufort MJ, Posso SE, Ni M, Li LZ, Zhu C, Raj P, Smith KD, Buckner JH, Hamerman JA, Sci Transl Med 2024 Jul 16 754 eadl3848 A telomere-targeting drug depletes cancer initiating cells and promotes anti-tumor immunity in small cell lung cancer. Eglenen-Polat B, Kowash RR, Huang HC, Siteni S, Zhu M, Chen K, Bender ME, Mender I, Stastny V, Drapkin BJ, Raj P, Minna JD, Xu L, Shay JW, Akbay EA, Nat Commun 2024 Jan 15 1 672 Lupus IgA1 autoantibodies synergize with IgG to enhance plasmacytoid dendritic cell responses to RNA-containing immune complexes. Waterman HR, Dufort MJ, Posso SE, Ni M, Li LZ, Zhu C, Raj P, Buckner JH, Hamerman JA, bioRxiv 2023 Sep The gut microbiota reprograms intestinal lipid metabolism through long noncoding RNA Snhg9. Wang Y, Wang M, Chen J, Li Y, Kuang Z, Dende C, Raj P, Quinn G, Hu Z, Srinivasan T, Hassell B, Ruhn KA, Behrendt CL, Liang T, Dou X, Song Z, Hooper LV, Science 2023 Aug 381 6660 851-857 Macrophages regulate gastrointestinal motility through complement component 1q. Pendse M, De Selle H, Vo N, Quinn G, Dende C, Li Y, Salinas CN, Srinivasan T, Propheter DC, Crofts AA, Koo E, Hassell B, Ruhn KA, Raj P, Obata Y, Hooper LV, Elife 2023 Apr 12 Loss-of-function variants in SAT1 cause X-linked childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus. Xu L, Zhao J, Sun Q, Xu X, Wang L, Liu T, Wu Y, Zhu J, Geng L, Deng Y, Awgulewitsch A, Kamen DL, Oates JC, Raj P, Wakeland EK, Scofield RH, Guthridge JM, James JA, Hahn BH, McCurdy DK, Wang F, Zhang M, Tan W, Gilkeson GS, Tsao BP, Ann Rheum Dis 2022 Aug A short plus long-amplicon based sequencing approach improves genomic coverage and variant detection in the SARS-CoV-2 genome. Arana C, Liang C, Brock M, Zhang B, Zhou J, Chen L, Cantarel B, SoRelle J, Hooper LV, Raj P, PLoS One 2022 17 1 e0261014 Small proline-rich protein 2A is a gut bactericidal protein deployed during helminth infection. Hu Z, Zhang C, Sifuentes-Dominguez L, Zarek CM, Propheter DC, Kuang Z, Wang Y, Pendse M, Ruhn KA, Hassell B, Behrendt CL, Zhang B, Raj P, Harris-Tryon TA, Reese TA, Hooper LV, Science 2021 11 374 6568 eabe6723 Serum amyloid A delivers retinol to intestinal myeloid cells to promote adaptive immunity. Bang YJ, Hu Z, Li Y, Gattu S, Ruhn KA, Raj P, Herz J, Hooper LV, Science 2021 09 373 6561 eabf9232 The microbiota coordinates diurnal rhythms in innate immunity with the circadian clock. Brooks JF, Behrendt CL, Ruhn KA, Lee S, Raj P, Takahashi JS, Hooper LV, Cell 2021 Jul Results 1-10 of 39 1 2 3 4 Next Last Books Featured Books Genetic diversity in Indian populations: Implications for genetic susceptibility and mapping of complex genetic diseases. In Recent Trends in Biotechnology Raj P. & P K Tiwari. (2010). New York, ) NOVA publisher, New York Honors & Awards Outstanding paper award for Staphylococcus aureus genome study in childrenPediatric Orthopaedic Society of North America & European Pediatric Orthopaedic Society, USA (2017-2017) Best Poster awardImmunology symposium, Department of Immunology symposium UTSW, Dallas, Texas, USA (2012) Young Scientist AwardMadhya Pradesh Council of Science & Technology (MPCST), India (2009) Best Poster awardInternational conference of Medical and Community Genetics at Department of Hematology, India (2008) Travel award from CSIR and DBT, India57th Annual Meeting of American Society of Human Genetics (2007) University Topper Research Scholarship, University Grant Commission (UGC)Jiwaji University, Gwalior, M. P. India (2004-2006) Professional Associations/Affiliations American Association of Immunologists (AAI) (2013) American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) (2007) Indian Society of Human Genetics (ISHG) (2006)
