Rudra Channappanavar

Rudra Channappanavar, DVM, PhD is an Assistant Professor in Viral Immunology and Veterinary Pathology at the College of Veterinary Medicine, Oklahoma State University where he has an active research program that focuses on coronavirus-host interactions and evaluation of anti-viral/anti-inflammatory agents to reduce hCoV disease. He also has developed a research program aimed to understand the basis for severe coronavirus disease in the enderly. Dr. Channappanavar earned his DVM from Veterinary College, KVAFSU, India, and his MVSc from Indian Veterinary Research Institute. He received his PhD from Oakland University in viral immunology and post-doctoral training at the University of Iowa in Coronavirus Immunobiology and virology. He is currently an Assistant Professor for Oklahoma Center for Respiratory and Infectious Diseases (OCRID).

Research Interests:

1) Coronavirus-host interactions and mechanisms of protective and pathogenic immunity.
Emerging and re-emerging viruses are major threat to global public health. This is illustrated by the continuous appearance of several highly pathogenic viruses, such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-CoV-2 (SARS-CoV), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome-CoV (MERS-CoV)], SARS-CoV-1, and re-emerging (influenza virus) respiratory viruses Therefore, it is essential to understand the virology and immunobiology of highly pathogenic virus infections in order to identify specific factors contributing to the unusually high pathogenicity, and to develop effective prophylactic and therapeutic strategies to prevent and control future outbreaks. One of our goals is to examine the virus and host factors-mediating protective and pathogenic immune responses to the highly virulent respiratory virus (coronaviruses and influenza virus) infections. We will use immunology-, virology- and molecular biology-based in vitro and in vivo experiments. We will also use well-established transfection methods and viral vectors (adenovirus or lentivirus) to either knock down/out (siRNA and CRISPR/Cas9) or over-express gene targets in vitro and in vivo. In vivo studies include the use of WT, knockout and knock-in mice.

2) Improving immune response to human CoV infections and vaccinations in the elderly.
We are also developing a research program to investigate the host factors responsible for sub-optimal immune response to virus infections in the elderly, with an ultimate goal to develop therapeutics for viral lung infections and enhance the immune response to viral infections and vaccines. Aging is associated with an increased risk of acquiring infections due to dysregulated or impaired immune response. Since the elderly population is increasing due to increased life expectancy, understanding the basis of this increased susceptibility to infections is critical. Our recent results show that dysregulated interferon (IFN) and inflammatory immune cell responses are in-part responsible for the deleterious outcomes following viral lung infections in the aged hosts. Using mouse models of viral lung infections, we will examine the role of IFNs and monocytes-macrophages in host protection during aging. We also evaluate host response to a variety of vaccines in young and aged host with a goal to identify the basis for weak immune response in the aged hosts.

3) Identification and evaluation of anti-viral and anti-inflammatory agents to reduce hCoV disease severity.
Another focus of our laboratory is to identify potential antiviral and anti-inflammatory agents to prevent and treat severe disease caused by CoVs. The antiviral agents target different viral proteins that are critical for virus replication. We utilize both invitro and standard and transgenic mice infected with WT, variant, and mouse-adapted SARS-CoV-2, and MERS-CoV to assess the protective efficacy.