Prasad Katakam, MD, PhD, School of Medicine Projects Contact Not accepting students through Spring 2025 pkatakam@tulane.edu

Lab Description Studies the therapeutic potential of gene therapy in the treatment of AIDS, lysosomal storage diseases, and the use of hematopoietic stem cells. Topics include tissue-specific expression of therapeutic genes and immunomodulatory effects of gene expression. This intersection has clinical relevance for multiple diseases and therapeutic modalities including gene therapy strategies, transplantation, immunotherapy and […]

Project Descriptions Interleukin-17 in Prostate Cancer. A major focus of our research program is to understand the role of inflammation in cancer initiation, promotion, and progression. Our target molecule in inflammation is interleukin-17 (IL-17). IL-17 is a key cytokine in many inflammatory and autoimmune diseases. We are using in-vitro and in-vivo (transgenic and knockout mice) approaches […]

Lab Description Her first major discovery involved identification of novel mechanisms attenuating expression and damage caused by LINE-1 retrotransposons. She was a key contributor to the establishment of somatic expression of LINE-1 in many normal human tissues, a finding that has triggered a broad recognition of somatic LINE-1 damage and its relevance to human disease […]

Project Description The primary focus of Dr. Hill’s research is the molecular mechanisms of signal transduction cross- talk in breast cancer. Breast cancer is an endocrine-responsive neoplasm and as such is responsive to a variety of endocrine and growth factor stimuli. A complete understanding of the factors regulating the proliferation breast cancer, as well as […]

Lab Description Despite the recent development and FDA approval of new hormone therapy drugs for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, disease progression after hormone therapies remains the most critical challenge in the clinical management of prostate cancer. Emerging evidences indicate that prostate cancers can adapt to all current hormone therapies by signaling through constitutively-active androgen receptor […]

Project Description My clinical research lab within Tulane (PEACH Lab, https://medicine.tulane.edu/departments/clinical-sciences/pediatrics/research/dr-howells-peach-lab) is developing a trial to study how heart rate variability in pregnant mothers may help us assess risk of development of pre-eclampsia and preterm birth. We hope to recruit mothers from the community and utilize open source platforms, such as Apple ResearchKit, to assist […]

Project Description Research assistant position for various neonatal intensive care unit and NICU Graduate Clinic projects Project Outcome Briefly: -Impact of auditory stimulation on infants within the NICU -Impact of prenatal auditory stimulation on mothers and term infants -Perinatal mental health outcomes in high-risk maternal-infant dyads Project Details Time, eligibility, and other details Expected workload […]

Project Description Assist in projects involving clinical sequelae and urogenital viral dynamics in survivors of ebola virus disease. Collaborates with partner groups researching emerging viral infections in Sierra Leone. Project Details Time, eligibility, and other details Expected workload Skills required Who is eligible Undergraduate Students Core partners Sponsoring party Faculty-organized Volunteer, Paid, or Credit-eligible? Volunteer

Project Description Dr. Liya Pi has focused on the liver and examined reparative processes after local and environmental stresses/injuries. Her research utilizes genetically modified animal models and asks how and why aberrant expression of growth, angiogenic, and fibrotic factors in hepatic microenvironments affects: (1) hepatic progenitor cell activation and ductular reaction, (2) hepatocyte regeneration, (3) […]