Reuben Arasaratnam, M.D.
Assistant Professor

Reuben Arasaratnam, M.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center, and a member of its Division of Infectious Diseases and Geographic Medicine. His clinical interests include infectious disease care of the immunocompromised host, viral infections, vaccination and non-tuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) infections.

Originally from Ascot, England, Dr. Arasaratnam holds a bachelor's degree in physiology from the University of Cambridge. He received his medical degree from the University of Oxford Medical School, where he graduated with honors, and obtained internal medicine residency training Oxford University Hospitals. He subsequently moved to the United States to pursue further internal medicine training at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and then completed advanced training through a fellowship progroam in infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, where he focused on caring for patients who were immunocompromised. During his clinical training he obtained a master's degree in public health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston, and pursued additional research in translational viral immunology, resulting in one of the first prospective multi-virus characterizations of T cell immunity in a pediatric solid organ transplant cohort, and another study identifying dominant T cell targets of Parainfluenza virus 3 (PIV-3).

Certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine in internal medicine and infectious diseases, Dr. Arasaratnam joined the UT Southwestern faculty in 2017.

In his role as Assistant to the Medical Services Chief for Education at the Dallas VA Medical Center, Dr. Arasaratnam supports the current educational activities of this training facility while also providing comprehensive inpatient and outpatient infectious disease care for veterans and attending physicians on the Internal Medicine Teaching Service. As a medical educator, Dr. Arasaratnam has a strong focus on teaching and assessing clinical reasoning, faculty development and fostering an inclusive clinical learning environment for the trainee.

Dr. Arasaratnam is an active member of several professional organizations, including the Royal College of Physicians, Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine, Texas Transplant Society, Infectious Diseases Society of America, and the American Society of Transplantation. 

Medical School

(2006), Medicine

Graduate School

Harvard University (2008), International Health

• Infections in the Immunocompromised Host
• Medical Education
• Non-tuberculous Mycobacterial Infections
• Vaccination in Immunocompromised Host
• Viral Immunology

Featured Publications

American College of Rheumatology Guidance for COVID-19 Vaccination in Patients With Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Diseases: Version 1.

Curtis JR, Johnson SR, Anthony DD, Arasaratnam RJ, Baden LR, Bass AR, Calabrese C, Gravallese EM, Harpaz R, Sadun RE, Turner AS, Williams EA, Mikuls TR, Arthritis Rheumatol 2021 07 73 7 1093-1107

American College of Rheumatology Guidance for the Management of Rheumatic Disease in Adult Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Version 1.

Mikuls TR, Johnson SR, Fraenkel L, Arasaratnam RJ, Baden LR, Bermas BL, Chatham W, Cohen S, Costenbader K, Gravallese EM, Kalil AC, Weinblatt ME, Winthrop K, Mudano AS, Turner A, Saag KG, Arthritis & rheumatology (Hoboken, N.J.) 2020 Apr

Letermovir successfully used for secondary prophylaxis in a heart transplant recipient with ganciclovir-resistant cytomegalovirus syndrome (UL97 mutation).

Chong PP, Teiber D, Prokesch BC, Arasaratnam RJ, Peltz M, Drazner MH, Garg S Transpl Infect Dis 2018 Jul e12965

Dynamics of virus-specific T cell immunity in pediatric liver transplant recipients.

Arasaratnam RJ, Tzannou I, Gray T, Aguayo-Hiraldo PI, Kuvalekar M, Naik S, Gaikwad A, Liu H, Miloh T, Vera JF, Himes RW, Munoz FM, Leen AM Am. J. Transplant. 2018 Jun

Ibrutinib Use Complicated by Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy.

Hsiehchen D, Arasaratnam R, Raj K, Froehlich T, Anderson L, Oncology 2018 95 5 319-322

Characterizing the Cellular Immune Response to Parainfluenza Virus 3.

Aguayo-Hiraldo PI, Arasaratnam RJ, Tzannou I, Kuvalekar M, Lulla P, Naik S, Martinez CA, Piedra PA, Vera JF, Leen AM J. Infect. Dis. 2017 Jul 216 2 153-161

Posttransplant Lymphoproliferative Disease Presenting as an Extracranial Mass.

Arasaratnam RJ, Restrepo A Case Rep Transplant 2017 2017 6401086

Recent advances in the risk factors, diagnosis and management of Epstein-Barr virus post-transplant lymphoproliferative disease.

Aguayo-Hiraldo P, Arasaratnam R, Rouce RH, Bol Med Hosp Infant Mex 2016 Jan - Feb 73 1 31-40

Adoptive T cell therapy for the treatment of viral infections.

Arasaratnam RJ, Leen AM Ann Transl Med 2015 Oct 3 18 278

Quality improvement.

Arasaratnam R, Br J Hosp Med (Lond) 2012 May 73 5 257-61

 Featured Books

Nocardia Infections in Transplantation: Diagnosis, Management, and Impact on Outcomes. In Emerging Transplant Infections

Arasaratnam R.J., Restrepo A. (2020). Springer

• Divisional Faculty Teaching Award
  UT Southwestern (2022)
• Harvard Macy Scholar
  Harvard Macy Institute (2022)
• Scholar in Diagnostic Excellence
  National Academy of Medicine (2022)
• Leaders in Clinical Excellence Rising Star Award
  UT Southwestern (2021)
• Second Place, Fellows Research
  Houston Infectious Diseases Society (2017)
• First Place, Research Symposium
  Baylor College of Medicine (2016)
• First Place, Research Symposium
  Baylor College of Medicine (2016)
• Third Place, Research Symposium
  Baylor College of Medicine (2015)
• First Place, Research Symposium
  Baylor College of Medicine (2014)
• David Ontjes Award
  University of North Carolina (2012)
• David Ontjes Award for Outstanding Performance During Residency
  University of North Carolina (2012)
• Teacher of the Month
  Oxford University Medical School (2008)
• Teacher of the Month
  Oxford University Medical School (2007)

• American Society of Transplantation
• Infectious Disease Society of America
• Royal College of Physicians
• Texas Transplant Society