Aparna Sundaram, MD

Assoc Professor in Residence

Dr. Sundaram is a biomedical engineer, physician, and scientist with an interest in airway smooth muscle biology. Her laboratory focuses on tethering pathways used by muscle to transmit force. Through a more nuanced understanding of pathways that contribute to force transmission and the influence on pro-inflammatory cytokines on regulating these pathways, Dr. Sundaram hopes to identify novel drug targets to mitigate exaggerated airway narrowing in chronic airways diseases. Her work leverages ex vivo and in vivo disease models, transgenic mouse models, and advanced microscopy to map force transmission pathways on a cellular level.

Dr. Sundaram also attends in the Moffitt-Long Intensive Care Units. She serves as the Associate Director for the Molecular Medicine Residency Program. Her primary interests in physician-scientist training are related to longitudinal mentoring, work-life integration, and supporting women and minorities in science.

Education
2019 - Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Champion, University of California, San Francisco
Fellowship, 2012 - Pulmonary and Critical Care, University of California, San Francisco
Internship/Residency, 2009 - Internal Medicine, Northwestern University
M.D., 2006 - Medicine, Northwestern University
B.S., 2003 - Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University
Websites
Publications

  1. Ngo U, Shi Y, Woodruff P, Shokat K, DeGrado W, Jo H, Sheppard D, Sundaram AB. IL-13 and IL-17A activate ß1 integrin through an NF-kB/Rho kinase/PIP5K1? pathway to enhance force transmission in airway smooth muscle. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2024. PMID: 39136993


  2. Liu S, Ngo U, Tang XZ, Ren X, Qiu W, Huang X, DeGrado W, Allen CD, Jo H, Sheppard D, Sundaram AB. Integrin α2β1 regulates collagen I tethering to modulate hyperresponsiveness in reactive airway disease models. The Journal of clinical investigation 2021. PMID: 33956668


  3. Sundaram A, Chen C, Isik Reed N, Liu S, Ki Yeon S, McIntosh J, Tang YZ, Yang H, Adler M, Beresis R, Seiple IB, Sheppard D, DeGrado WF, Jo H. Dual antagonists of a5ß1/ avß1 integrin for airway hyperresponsiveness. Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry letters 2020. PMID: 33007395


  4. Lazar AM, Irannejad R, Baldwin TA, Sundaram AB, Gutkind JS, Inoue A, Dessauer CW, Von Zastrow M. G protein-regulated endocytic trafficking of adenylyl cyclase type 9. eLife 2020. PMID: 32515353


  5. Del Cid JS, Isik Reed N, Molnar K, Liu S, Dang B, Jensen SA, DeGrado W, Handford PA, Sheppard D, Sundaram AB. A disease associated mutation in fibrillin-1 differentially regulates integrin mediated cell adhesion. The Journal of biological chemistry 2019. PMID: 31640988


  6. Bulek K, Chen X, Parron V, Sundaram A, Herjan T, Ouyang S, Liu C, Majors A, Zepp J, Gao J, Dongre A, Bodaszewska-Lubas M, Echard A, Aronica M, Carman J, Garantziotis S, Sheppard D, Li X. IL-17A Recruits Rab35 to IL-17R to Mediate PKCa-Dependent Stress Fiber Formation and Airway Smooth Muscle Contractility. Journal of immunology (Baltimore, Md. : 1950) 2019. PMID: 30683702


  7. Sundaram A, Chen C, Khalifeh-Soltani A, Atakilit A, Ren X, Qiu W, Jo H, DeGrado W, Huang X, Sheppard D. Targeting integrin a5ß1 ameliorates severe airway hyperresponsiveness in experimental asthma. Volume 127 of Issue 1. The Journal of clinical investigation 2016. PMID: 27918306


  8. Tsvetanova NG, Trester-Zedlitz M, Newton BW, Riordan DP, Sundaram AB, Johnson JR, Krogan NJ, von Zastrow M. G Protein-Coupled Receptor Endocytosis Confers Uniformity in Responses to Chemically Distinct Ligands. Molecular pharmacology 2016. PMID: 27879340


  9. Bhattacharya M, Sundaram A, Kudo M, Farmer J, Ganesan P, Khalifeh-Soltani A, Arjomandi M, Atabai K, Huang X, Sheppard D. IQGAP1-dependent scaffold suppresses RhoA and inhibits airway smooth muscle contraction. Volume 124 of Issue 11. The Journal of clinical investigation 2014. PMID: 25271629


  10. Katsumoto TR, Kudo M, Chen C, Sundaram A, Callahan EC, Zhu JW, Lin J, Rosen CE, Manz BN, Lee JW, Matthay MA, Huang X, Sheppard D, Weiss A. The phosphatase CD148 promotes airway hyperresponsiveness through SRC family kinases. Volume 123 of Issue 5. The Journal of clinical investigation 2013. PMID: 23543053


  11. Sugimoto K, Kudo M, Sundaram A, Ren X, Huang K, Bernstein X, Wang Y, Raymond WW, Erle DJ, Abrink M, Caughey GH, Huang X, Sheppard D. The avß6 integrin modulates airway hyperresponsiveness in mice by regulating intraepithelial mast cells. Volume 122 of Issue 2. The Journal of clinical investigation 2012. PMID: 22232213