Karunakaran Reddy Sankaran conducts research in the Aggarwal Lab focused on the lung-heart inflammatory axis, specifically investigating the molecular mechanisms of chronic pain in HIV and the pathogenesis of opioid use disorder.
Before joining FIU in 2026, he worked as a postdoctoral associate under the supervision of Shaik O. Rahaman in the Department of Nutrition and Food Science at the University of Maryland, where he authored and co-authored several peer-reviewed publications.
Area of Expertise
- Molecular biology
- Vascular biology
- Lung-Heart inflammatory diseases
Research Interests
- Role of opioids on mechanosensitive pathway in immune cells
- Opioid-induced lung-heart injury
- TRP channels in chronic pain
Education
- Ph.D., Biochemistry, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, AP, India 2022
- M.Sc., Biochemistry, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, AP, India 2010
- B.Sc., Biochemistry, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, AP, India 2008