Sravan Perla, PhD, MSc

Research Background:

Sravan Perla earned his M.Sc. in Medical Biochemistry from JIPMER, Puducherry, India, before joining the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, where he conducted brief research under the mentorship of Raghavan Varadarajan (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raghavan_Varadarajan) and Upendra Nongthomba. He went on to complete his Ph.D. jointly at the University of Toledo School of Medicine and New York Medical College, New York, USA, where his doctoral research focused on the epigenetic regulation of the human angiotensinogen (AGT) gene. Following his doctorate, he joined Yale School of Medicine to work with Anton Bennett (https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/anton-bennett/), investigating the signaling mechanisms of protein tyrosine phosphatases (PTPs) in the regulation of congenital heart disease and metabolism, with findings published in top journals including PNAS, JCI, and Neurology. He is currently working with Dr. Murat Günel (https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/murat-gunel/) and the Barak Tanyeri in the Department of Neurosurgery, transitioning from cardiovascular research to the study of brain aneurysms, where he applies his expertise in genetic profiling, advanced imaging, spatial transcriptomics, and cellular mechanics to advance neurovascular therapeutic discovery.

Current Research:

The goal of my ongoing and future research is to decode the PZR/Shp2/Irx3/Irx5/BMP10 pathway. This will have a great impact on the understanding of this cell signaling pathway as it will allow to find the therapeutic targets to treat cardiovascular diseases particularly Noonan syndrome (NS) and Noonan syndrome with multiple lentigines (NSML). I intend to continue this research on the cell signaling mechanisms of PZR/Shp2/Irx3/Irx5/BMP10 pathway as a foundation for therapeutic advances. Since finding a new medicine and bringing that into market is very time consuming and expensive process. So, my strategy would be repurposing the existing medicines and treating the disease. As part of this journey, we developed preliminary data in treating cardiomyopathy by using low-dose dasatinib. We have got promising results, and I hope to contribute significantly to the field and continue to go further.

Future Research:

One of my envisioned projects involves treating Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy(HCM) by using recombinant human BMP10. This gene encodes a secreted ligand of the TGF-beta superfamily of proteins. Ligands of this family bind various TGF-beta receptors leading to recruitment and activation of SMAD family transcription factors that regulate gene expression. BMP10 plays an important role in cardiovascular development including cardiomyocyte proliferation and regulation of heart size, closure of the ductus arteriosus, angiogenesis and ventricular trabeculation. BMP10 is a negative regulator of cardiac growth. Our focus is on developing novel therapies for the congenital heart defects in children and help children and their families to live a happier life.