Umasundari Sivaprasad, PhD

Dr. Sivaprasad received dual BS degrees in microbiology and biochemistry (St. Xavier’s College), as well as an MS degree in biochemistry from the University of Mumbai, India. She then received her PhD degree in biochemistry from The Ohio State University in 2003 where she used surface plasmon resonance (Biacore™) technology and other biochemical methods to delineate the mechanism of prolactin binding to its cognate receptor. Her postdoctoral training in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Virginia was focused on elucidating the molecular mechanisms that regulate formation of the pre-replication complex during DNA replication initiation along with studies examining the effect of statins on regulation of prostate cancer cell proliferation.

In 2007 Dr. Sivaprasad joined the Division of Asthma Research with a view to developing statins as an alternative to steroids as anti-inflammatory therapy in asthma and allergic diseases. Along the way, she has developed an interest in elucidating the role of serine protease inhibitors in allergic pathophysiology. Since joining the division she has served as first author or co-author on eight peer-reviewed publications.

The long-term goal of Dr. Sivaprasad’s research is to better understand the molecular basis of allergic diseases. To this end she is utilizing her broad repertoire of skills developed during her training to apply in vitro biochemical, molecular, as well as in vivo animal model approaches to her research questions, specifically the role of serine protease inhibitors at the epithelial barriers in the lung, skin, and intestine.

She has ongoing collaborations with investigators at the University of Pittsburgh and in the Divisions of Pulmonary Biology, Immunobiology, and Pathology at Cincinnati Children’s.