- Professor and Head, Veterinary Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences
Dr. Vemulapalli's research is primarily focused on the development of recombinant vaccines against infectious diseases. One of the targets of his vaccine research is brucellosis, a bacterial zoonotic disease caused by certain members of the genus Brucella. Brucellosis is a great concern to public health in developing countries due to widespread prevalence of Brucella infections in livestock. In the US, reservoirs of Brucella infections in wildlife, such as bison, elk, and feral swine, continue to pose a threat to livestock industries and human health. The currently available brucellosis veterinary vaccines are neither efficacious in wild animals nor safe for human use. Dr. Vemulapalli has developed novel recombinant vaccine strains that showed dramatically enhanced vaccine efficacy against brucellosis in murine models. Testing these vaccines in domestic and wild animals is a goal of his research program. Research projects in his laboratory are aimed at 1) understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of Brucella species, 2) developing attenuated Brucella strains as vectors to deliver protective proteins of other pathogens and tumors, 3) developing recombinant subunit vaccines to porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus, and 4) development of molecular diagnostics assays for infectious disease investigations.
- Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland, College Park - (College Park, Maryland, United States) 1996
- M.V.Sc. in Animal Biochemistry, Indian Veterinary Research Institute - (Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh, India) 1989
- B.V.S. in Veterinary Sciences, Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University - (Tirumala - Tirupati, India) 1986
Academic Articles63
- Drolia, R., Amalaradjou, M., Ryan, V., Tenguria, S., Liu, D., Bai, X., ... Bhunia, A. K. (2020). Receptor-targeted engineered probiotics mitigate lethal Listeria infection.. Nat Commun. 11(1), 6344.
- Sánchez-Jiménez, M. M., de la Cuesta Zuluaga, J. J., Garcia-Montoya, G. M., Dabral, N., Alzate, J. F., Vemulapalli, R., & Olivera-Angel, M. (2020). Diagnosis of human and canine Brucella canis infection: development and evaluation of indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays using recombinant Brucella proteins.. Heliyon. 6(7), e04393-e04393.
- Dabral, N., Burcham, G. N., Jain-Gupta, N., Sriranganathan, N., & Vemulapalli, R. (2019). Overexpression of wbkF gene in Brucella abortus RB51WboA leads to increased O-polysaccharide expression and enhanced vaccine efficacy against B. abortus 2308, B. melitensis 16M, and B. suis 1330 in a murine brucellosis model.. PLoS One. 14(3), e0213587-e0213587.
- Dabral, N., Jain-Gupta, N., Seleem, M. N., Sriranganathan, N., & Vemulapalli, R. (2015). Overexpression of Brucella putative glycosyltransferase WbkA in B. abortus RB51 leads to production of exopolysaccharide.. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 5(JUN), 54.
- Fink, J. M., Moore, G. E., Landau, R., & Vemulapalli, R. (2015). Evaluation of three 5' exonuclease-based real-time polymerase chain reaction assays for detection of pathogenic Leptospira species in canine urine.. J Vet Diagn Invest. 27(2), 159-166.
Chapters1
- Vemulapalli, R. (2016). Real-Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction for Rapid Detection of Transmissible Gastroenteritis Virus. Springer Protocols Handbooks. Springer Protocols Handbooks. 115-119. Springer New York.
Conference Papers1
- Sharma, A., Tandon, M., Ahi, Y. S., Bangari, D. S., Vemulapalli, R., & Mittal, S. K. (2009). Evaluation of Cross-Reactive Humoral and Cell-Mediated Immune Responses among Human, Bovine and Porcine Adenoviruses. MOLECULAR THERAPY. 17, S44-S44.
- Texas A&M Researcher Named To National List Of Inspiring Black Scientists Texas A&M Today February 24, 2020
Patents4
- Vemulapalli, R., Garg, V. K., Vemulapalli, T. H., & Sriranganathan, N. (2012). A Broadly Protective Protein of Brucella and its Use in Brucellosis Vaccine Preparation.
- Boyle, S. M., Cravero, S., Corbeil, L., Schurig, G., Srirnaganathan, N., & Vemulapalli, R. (2004). Over-expressing homologous antigen vaccine and a method of making the same.
- Dutta, S., Biswas, B., & Vemulapalli, R. (2002). Size-variable strain-specific protective antigen for potomac horse fever.
- Boyle, S. M., Cravero, S., Corbeil, L., Schurig, G., Srirnaganathan, N., & Vemulapalli, R. (2000). Over-expressing homologous antigen vaccine and a method of making the same.
- VPAT685 Directed Studies Instructor
- VPAT691 Research Instructor
- VPAT691 Research: In-ab Instructor
- VTMI685 Directed Studies Instructor
- VTMI691 Research Instructor