Renu Khasa is a virology expert with over five years of research experience. Her work in the Hoshang Unwalla Lab primarily focuses on studying virus-host interactions and understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying HIV-associated pulmonary dysfunction, oxidative stress, microRNA regulation and airway epithelial biology.
Before joining FIU in 2025, Khasa conducted research on mesenchymal stem cell-based and immunocompetent mouse models of HIV/AIDS and KSHV-driven sarcomagenesis at the University of Miami. She completed her first postdoctoral fellowship at Florida State University, where she investigated the selection and characterization of an AXL-independent Zika virus mutant. She has published numerous research articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has presented her findings at both national and international conferences.
Areas of Expertise
- Virus host interaction
- Molecular biology
- HIV-associated pulmonary complications
- microRNA biology
- CRISPR-based gene regulation
Research Interest
- Developing Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISP(e)R) based therapeutic approach to eliminate HIV reservoir.
- Mechanism underlying lung comorbidities in people living with HIV (PLWH), who smoke tobacco or drug abuse.
- Determine the impact of the HIV/smoke altered MicroRNAome in Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases in people living with HIV (PLWH).
Honors & Awards
- ICMR (Indian Council of Medical Research) Award, 2014, 2018
- The Global Health Travel Award, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, 2019
Education
- Ph.D., Health Science, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, India 2019