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Sukanya Narasimhan, PhD

Associate Professor

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Sukanya Narasimhan, PhD

Research Summary


Sukanya Narasimhan received her M.Sc. in Biochemistry from Central College, Bengaluru University, India and her Ph.D. in 1991 from the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru, India. She was a postdoctoral Research Associate in the laboratory of late Dr. Frank F Richards, Professor of Internal medicine, molecular biophysics and biochemistry at the Yale University School of Medicine, where she studied molecular aspects of Pneumocystic carinii, an opportunistic fungal pathogen. She also trained with Dr. Peter Hotez, then Associate Professor of Pediatrics, to identify vaccine targets against parasitic hookworms before joining Professor Erol Fikrig's laboratory in 1998 in the Section of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. She was promoted in the Research track to Senior Scientist in Dr. Fikrig's group, where she contributed to an increasing understanding of tick-host-pathogen interactions.

Sukanya Narasimhan is currently an Associate Professor in the Section of infectious diseases in the Department of Internal Medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. Her research focuses on arthropod vector-host-pathogen interactions and arthropod vector gut microflora and host skin microflora in the context of pathogen transmission. Dr. Narasimhan is a recipient of the inaugural travel grant from the Yale Global Health Initiative.


Specialized Terms: Tick-Borrelia interactions

Extensive Research Description

Dr. Narasimhan studies the molecular biology of tick-pathogen interactions that facilitate pathogen colonization of the tick and ultimately pathogen transmission to the vertebrate host. She is also expanding her research to gain molecular insights into the impact of climate change on tick-Borrelia interactions and infection rates in endemic areas.

Coauthors

Research Interests

Arthropod Vectors; Borrelia; Lyme Disease; Ticks; Global Health; Infectious Disease Medicine; Climate Change

Research Image

Tick encounter with environmental bacteria

Ticks encounter microbes in multiple ways (in soil, leaf litter, host skin and host bloodmeal) . How some microbes colonize ,and some are cleared by the tick is an active area of research that could reveal new insights to control infection prevalence in ticks in endemic areas .

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