Affiliation: Yale University

Dr. Reetika Chaurasia takes a multidisciplinary approach to her experimental studies of the pathogenesis of leptospirosis. Dr. Chaurasia received her PhD in Animal Sciences under the supervision of Prof. Manjula Sritharan from the University of Hyderabad, India, in 2019. Her research includes functional characterization of sphingomyelinases as virulent determinants in pathogenic Leptospira where she attributed leptospiral sphingomyelinases as a key factor to induced pore formation on the Vero cell surface. In addition, she identified the diagnostic potential of Hemin Binding protein (HbpA) and Sphingomyelinases in the urine of leptospirosis patients, which provided the future scope for the development of point-of-care devices for leptospiral antigen detection in urine or serum. Dr. Chaurasia is currently a post-doctoral associate in Internal medicine/Infectious Disease at Yale School of Medicine (since Feb 2019-present) working in the laboratory of Prof. Joseph M. Vinetz. Dr. Chaurasia has explored the newly discovered Virulence Modulating (VM) family of pathogenic Leptospira proteins, specifically developing tools to further explore mechanisms of VM proteins in leptospirosis pathogenesis. This work forms the basis of therapeutic implications for the treatment of severe leptospirosis and aims to develop a vaccine to prevent human leptospirosis. Her broad portfolio of research, experience in the field of infectious disease, and training expertise lead research in basic science and translational approaches to neglected tropical infectious diseases.