The Team
The research in the Pattabiraman lab is carried out by a team of intelligent and smart minds including postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, undergraduates, medical students, and school students.
Padmanabhan P Pattabiraman
Lab Director
I'm an Assistant Professorship at the Glick Eye Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine since August 2019. I did my Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience, from the International School for Advanced Studies, Trieste, Italy, and postdoctoral fellowships at the Department of Neuroscience and Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University, Durham, NC. After a research track position at the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Case Western Reserve Univ, Cleveland, OH, I moved as a tenure track faculty to IUSM.
​
​
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1PQT8dtB6zNAs/bibliography/public/
After my bachelors and masters in biological science from Chennai, India, I finished my PhD rom Deakin Univ, Australia in April 2019. I joined the Padhu lab in Nov 2019. Currently, I'm studying the role of the chaperone protein clusterin in regulating IOP. I am also studying the clusterin-cathepsin k axis in the modulation of actin-based TM contractility and ECM-based stiffness. Other than Science, I enjoy playing with my daughter and watching movies.
Avinash Soundararajan
Postdoctoral Fellow
Anusha Shivashankar
PhD Candidate
I finished my Bachelors in Biotechnology from Mumbai, India, I started my graduate school in Indiana University under the IBMG Program. I joined the lab in June 2024 after a rotation in Sept-Dec 2023. I am majoring in Medical Neuroscience. My study in the lab focuses on the role of tensins in modulating the actin dynamics, cell adhesive, and cell matrix interactions the trabecular meshwork and aqueous humor drainage. I am here in search of finding the holy grail for IOP regulation. I love playing violin (Indian Classical)
I joined the Padhu lab in Jan 2024 after a rotation in Oct-Dec 2023. I am in the Medical Neuroscience Program. I study G-proteins in the regulation of phospholipase signaling in trabecular meshwork to maintain intraocular pressure. I am excited to do science and I feel that my contributions to science will motivate the next generations to do science. Photography is my hobby.
Rodahina Pasteurin
PhD Candidate
I joined the lab in June 2024. Hailing from Utah, I am passionate about making a positive impact on society. In the Padhu lab, I study the role of lipid oxidation affecting the trabecular meshwork biomechanics and the maintenance of intraocular pressure. I love debating and teaching and most importantly doing translational science.
Gregory Rognon
Postdoctoral Fellow
I graduated from Indiana University, Bloomington majoring in Biology. I was a research analyst in Padhu Lab before I started my Medical School in 2023. I received the 2023 ASBMB Summer fellowship in 2023 to do research in the lab. I came back to the lab in the summer of 2024 to continue the studies on ApoE on intraocular pressure and to identify the binding partners of clusterin in the TM. Additionally, I am interested in understanding the pathophysiological implications of stressors implicated in TM outflow and IOP regulation. I enjoy making hype music.
I was fascinated by research growing up in Miami. After I started my Med School, I came into the Padhu Lab as an IMPRS student. My research is to understand the transcriptional control of lipogenesis in the TM. I am very interested in regenerative medicine and the research pertaining to regeneration.
Undergraduate Student
I am an undergrad doing BS in Biology at the Earlham College, Indiana. I was chosen for the Stark Summer Student Fellowship 2024. I decided to do research in the Padhu Lab to learn more about glaucoma and intraocular pressure. My research focused on understanding the significance of cell adhesive interactions in the TM.
I entered Padhu Lab as a high schooler in 2022 under the STEM/SEED program. I got excited by the science of extracellular matrix during my first summer in the lab. My project deals with ECM homeostasis in the aqueous humor outflow pathway. I am a soccer freak and love to hit the gym everyday.
My love for science brought me to Padhu Lab through the STEM/SEED program. In the lab, I perform mechanistic exploration of cholesterol synthesis pathways in response to elevated intraocular pressure. I look at protein-protein interactions. Besides research, I love John Steinbeck novels, Nobel Prize winner Jim Allison, and writing poetry.