Santhamani Ramasamy

Contributions to Public Health

• I am an American College of Veterinary Microbiologists board-certified diplomat in Virology and Immunology. I am a veterinarian by training and earned master’s degree and PhD in the field of veterinary virology focused on ruminant viruses. I have investigated the inter-species spillover of capripoxviruses (PMID: 24952423, PMID: 28028940), and developed and validated the novel diagnostic tools for the diagnosis and monitoring of peste des petits ruminants virus in small ruminants.
• I developed and characterized the golden hamster model for COVID-19 using immunocompetent and immunocompromised hamsters. We characterized the SARS-CoV-2 replication kinetics, antibody levels and pathology in the hamster model (PMID: 35740365). We employed this model for assessing the anti-inflammatory effect of phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor CC11050, pre-clinical evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 RBD-based vaccines (PMID: 37112744) and self-assembling SARS-CoV-2 spike-binding therapeutic peptides (PMID: 38326301).
• With One Health approach, my research investigates the spillover of emerging and zoonotic viruses at the human-animal interface using serological tools (PMID: 36560774, PMID: 37515180). I have optimized the protocols and processes of pseudovirus production and pseudovirus neutralization assays for the surveillance of SARS-CoV-2, influenza A H5N1 and influenza D.
• I am investigating the influenza D virus causing cattle flu, to unravel the determinants of pathogenesis and zoonotic potential, and developing novel replication-defective influenza D vaccine for cattle.