Dr. Surendra Sharma
Surendra Indian: Hindu Means "lord of gods" from Sanskrit सुर (sura) meaning "god" combined with the name of the Hindu god INDRA, used here to mean "lord". This is another name for Indra.
Sharma Indian: Hindu (Brahman) name from Sanskrit šarma ‘joy’, ‘shelter’. It is regarded as a prestigious name and as such has been adopted in recent times in various non-Brahman communities.
Dr. Surendra Sharma’s laboratory has a multifaceted research program. He has expertise in reproductive biology and reproductive immunology with long term research interests in placental biology, reproductive immunology, and pathogenesis of adverse pregnancy outcomes.
This long-standing experience provides an excellent foundation for the work proposed. His long-standing experience in research has addressed uterine immunity, cytokine imbalance, hormonal regulation, and angiogenic dysregulation in pregnancy complications.
His recent work has provided novel insights into the etiology of preeclampsia.
His research team has developed a well-defined “humanized mouse model” for preeclampsia. His recent work has also identified systemic and placental targets and mechanistic pathways for the effects of gene-environment interactions on pregnancy.
His laboratory for the first time has demonstrated that protein misfolding and aggregation are key components of the preeclampsia etiology.
This work has highlighted the role of proteins such as transthyretin, transporter of thyroxine and retinol, and amyloid precursor protein in the placenta, suggesting a mechanistic similarity between preeclampsia and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.
Even more significant are the observations that aggregated transthyretin could induce preeclampsia-like features in pregnant mice.
This work and other projects on placental development and uterine immunity have allowed us to actively collaborate with National and International research groups. Dr. Sharma has served as a member of numerous NIH and American Diabetes Association (ADA) review panels.
He recently completed his tenure as President of the American Society for Reproductive Immunology (2010-2012) and continues to be on the Society’s Executive Committee.
He has organized and chaired numerous National and International scientific meetings. Dr. Sharma was the recipient of the 2007 Blackwell Munksgaard Award for outstanding research in Reproductive Immunology.
He recently received the 2014 Distinguished Service Award from the American Society for Reproductive Immunology.
He served as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Immunology and currently serves as a member of the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Reproductive Immunology.
He is the Principal Investigator/Director of the NIH-funded Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) for Reproductive Health.