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
I am an Associate Professor (Tenured) at the Glick Eye Institute, Indiana University School of Medicine since August 2019. I completed my Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience at the International School for Advanced Studies in Trieste, Italy, and held postdoctoral fellowships in the Departments of Neuroscience and Ophthalmology at Duke University in Durham, NC. After a research track position at the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at Case Western Reserve Univ, Cleveland, OH, I moved to a tenure-track faculty position at IUSM.
While at Case Western, I was awarded the Frank Stein and Paul S. May Innovative Glaucoma Research grant by the Glaucoma Research Foundation. At Indiana University Indianapolis, I was awarded the Showalter Scholar Grant in 2023, the DEIJ Researcher Award in 2024 from the Department of Ophthalmology, IUSM, and the Trustees' Teaching Award in 2025 from the Indiana School of Medicine.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1PQT8dtB6zNAs/bibliography/public/
Lab Director
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
Research Assistant Professor
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
Srimathi Raghavan
Postdoctoral Fellow
I joined the lab in Oct 2024. I am originally from Tamil Nadu, South India. I am a venom researcher by training but transitioned into nanotechnology. At Padhu lab, I am trying to solve an unanswered puzzle about the role of lipids in ECM production, secretion, and engagement with integrins in the trabecular meshwork. I want to define factors regulating ECM trafficking in glaucoma and ocular hypertension. My dream is to find good drug delivery platforms employing nanotechnology. I love filter coffee more than research if I have to choose between the two.
I graduated from Osun State University, Nigeria, majoring in Biochemistry. I was a Biochemistry faculty in Nigeria. I came to do PhD studies at Indiana University. My passion lies in metabolism and biochemistry. I rotated in the Pattabiraman lab in May 2025 and joined the lab in June 2025. I am currently studying the metabolic control of intraocular pressure. Other than my lab work, I love playing soccer, eating chicken biryani, samosa and gulab jamun.