Ravindra K Sharma, PhD

My current research interests are to understand the mechanisms underlying cardio-vascular complications in chronic kidney disease (CKD). More specifically, I am investigating the role of central mechanisms involved in the pathophysiology of vascular disorders such as hypertension, arterial stiffness in CKD. I am also interested in studying the role of circadian clock in the the regulation of cardiovascular disorders. My background in cardiovascular physiology and as a part of my work performed in previous projects, I have established my laboratory techniques to understand the heart, brain, kidney and vascular functions in animal models of cardiovascular diseases. I have more than 12 years of experience in recording of various cardiovascular parameters such as radio-telemetry blood pressure, right ventricular systolic pressure (RVSP), ventricular pressure with Millar catheter and echocardiographic imaging to analyze heart and vessels functions. I routinely perform surgeries such as stereotaxic, 5/6 nephrectomy and ischemia re-perfusion in rodents. My primary responsibility is to run a research program, designing experiments, obtain regulatory approval, perform and supervise animal experiments, analyze the data and prepare manuscripts. I have developed collaborative projects with a highly successful team of researchers in the University of Florida, dedicated to studying the cardiovascular complications of kidney diseases. During my postdoctoral training, my research focus was to understand the role of neuroinflammation and other cellular mechanisms of central nervous system in the pathophysiology of hypertension and pulmonary hypertension. I have discovered that microglial cells in the cardio-regulatory areas of the brain have direct communication with gut microbiota in the regulation of gut-brain-axis in hypertension. In addition to that, my work on pulmonary hypertension (PH) showed that PH is a systemic disease involving interplay among multiorgan systems rather a disease of pulmonary vasculature. I have successfully demonstrated for the first time the association of gut microbial dysbiosis in two different rodent models of PH and further showed that overexpression of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) alleviate PH and associated right heart pathologies. These findings led us to propose a dysfunctional brain-gut-lung axis in PH. For this work, I received “New Investigator Award” and received travel support from the American Heart Association (AHA) in Council on Hypertension Meeting 2018. I have demonstrated excellent productivity in research evidenced by my publications record which includes more than 16 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals including Circulation Research, Hypertension and Clinical Science. My recent publications that highlight my experience and qualification are listed under the subheading of “Contribution of Science”. I have expertise, motivation, multidisciplinary training and our laboratory has all of the primary equipment to carry out the proposed work. I believe our excellent research environment at the University of Florida will aid us in successfully completing the proposed research.

0000-0001-8099-0697

• Gut Microbiome
• Hypertension
• Pulmonary hypertension
• chronic kidney disease
• vascular stiffness