Welcome to Dr. Ramana’s Lab

This lab examines how oxidative stress, triggered by environmental exposures, metabolic imbalances, and inflammation, disturbs normal cellular processes and contributes to disease. By studying reactive oxygen species and their effects on cellular signaling, inflammation, and cancer development, the lab aims to identify the molecular pathways that drive these conditions and develop therapeutic strategies to prevent or reverse their harmful outcomes.
Using cell culture systems, animal models, and human tissue samples, the lab explores applications across cancer biology, endocrinology, dermatology, and ophthalmology to advance treatments for cancer and other inflammatory complications.

                           Dr. Kota Ramana

Understanding How Oxidative Stress Drives Disease

Environmental exposures, such as pollutants, drugs, pathogens, allergens, hyperglycemia, and endotoxins, can elevate the body’s production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These highly reactive molecules damage proteins, DNA, and cellular membranes, disrupt lipid metabolism, and alter both antioxidant and inflammatory signaling. When ROS production overwhelms the body’s natural defense systems, cellular redox balance is lost, creating oxidative stress.

Oxidative stress plays a powerful role in driving inflammation, immune dysfunction, and cancer development. Our lab focuses on uncovering the molecular pathways behind these processes and developing therapeutic strategies to prevent or blunt the pathological signals that lead to inflammatory diseases and cancer.

Using advanced cell culture platforms, mouse and rat models, and human clinical samples, we investigate the cellular mechanisms that control disease progression and explore potential interventions.

Research Areas & Opportunities

Cancer Biology

Exploring how oxidative stress activates innate immune and inflammatory pathways that drive cancer initiation, growth, and metastasis.
Focus areas include: Colon, Lung, Breast, Prostate, Skin, and Glioblastoma cancers.

Endocrinology

Studying how natural antioxidants and small-molecule therapeutics regulate vascular dysfunction and inflammation in both normal and diabetic conditions.

Dermatology

Investigating how oxidative and inflammatory signaling contributes to dermal fibroblast toxicity and melanoma progression.

Ophthalmology

Examining how antioxidant compounds protect ocular tissues from inflammation and toxicity.

Last five years publications

  1. Kupfer JT, Boekweg N, Zheng H, Puckett J, Ramana KV. Significance of vitamins A and E in cancer progression and prevention. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(23), 11588
  2. Zafar A, Lahori D, Namit A, Paxton Z, Ratna N, Thornton D, Ramana KV. Curcumin in Inflammatory Complications: Therapeutic Applications and Clinical Evidence, Int. J. Mol. Sci.  2025, 26, 9366.
  3. Wanachottrakul N, Pinkaew D, Mukherjee S, Chunhacha P, Brockman A, Nakashima M, Halim H, Wei Y, Huynh H, Ramana KV, Chen S, Ihrie R, Pal U, Fujise K. Fortilin deficiency induces anti-atherosclerotic phenotypes in macrophages and protects hypercholesterolemic mice against atherosclerosis. Communications Biology, 8, 1040 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-025-08425-w.
  4. Ramana, K.V. The Therapeutic Potential of Antioxidants in the Prevention of Human Diseases. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26, 5891.
  5. Ramana, K.V. Molecular Therapeutics for Diabetes and Related Complications. Int. J. Mol Sci. 2025, 26, 5585.
  6. Frost, Z.; Bakhit, S.; Amaefuna, C.N.; Powers, R.V.; Ramana, K.V. Recent Advances on the Role of B Vitamins in Cancer Prevention and Progression. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 2025, 26, x. https://doi.org/10.3390/xxxxx
  7. McMahan S, Spector T, Ramana KV.  Significance of macrophage -mediated inflammatory response in ocular inflammatory complications. Front. Biosci. (Landmark Ed) 2025, 30(3), 26698.
  8. Jalali, A.M.; Mitchell, K.J.; Pompoco, C.; Poludasu, S.; Tran, S.; Ramana, K.V. Therapeutic Significance of NLRP3 Inflammasome in Cancer: Friend or Foe?  Int. J. Mol Sci., 2024, 25, 13689.
  9. Kieran Allowitz, Justin Taylor, Kyra Harames, John Yoo, Omar Baloch, Ramana KV. Oxidative stress -mediated lipid peroxidation-derived aldehydes in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases. Cur. Neuropharmac., 2025, 26 (6):671-685.
  10. Trevor J. Plowman, Hannah Christensen, Myia Aiges, Emely Fernandez, Mujtaba H. Shah and Ramana KV. Anti-inflammatory potential of anti-diabetic drug, metformin: prevention of inflammatory complications to infectious diseases including COVID-19.  Int. J. Mol Sci., 2024. 25(10):5190.
  11. Plowman J. Trevor, Shah H. Mujtaba, Fernandez Emely, Christensen Hannah, Aiges Myia and Ramana KV, Role of Innate Immune and Inflammatory Responses in the Development of Secondary Diabetic Complications, Curr Mol Med., 2023;23(9):901-920
  12. Aiges Myia and Ramana KV. Significance of Vitamin Supplementation in Reducing the Severity of COVID-19, Mini-Reviews in Med Chem 2023; 23.
  13. Allowitz KV, Yoo JY, Taylor JR, Baloch OA, Harames K, Ramana KV. Therapeutic potential of vitamin B1 derivative benfotiamine from diabetes to COVID-19. Future Medicinal Chemistry. 14 (11), 10.4155 (2022).
  14. Pinkaew, D., Martinez-Hackert, Jia W, King MD, Miao F, Enger NR, Silakit R, Ramana K, Chen SY, Fujise K. Fortilin interacts with TGF-β1 and prevents TGF-β receptor activation. Commun Biol 5, 157 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03112-6.
  15. Sonowal H, and Ramana KV. Development of aldose reductase inhibitors for the treatment of inflammatory disorders and cancer: current drug design strategies and future directions. Curr Med Chem. 2021; 28(19):3683-3712.
  16. Sonowal H, Saxena A, Qiu S, Srivastava S, Ramana KV. Aldose reductase regulates doxorubicin-induced immune and inflammatory responses by activating mitochondrial biogenesis. Eur J Pharmacol. 2021; 895:173884.
  17. Sonowal H, and Ramana KV. 2′-Hydroxyflavanone prevents LPS-induced inflammatory response and cytotoxicity in murine macrophages. Toxicol In Vitro. 2020; 69:104966. doi: 10.1016/j.tiv.2020