Santhamani Ramasamy

I am an American College of Veterinary Microbiologists board-certified diplomat in Virology and Immunology. I completed a bachelor’s degree in veterinary sciences from Madras Veterinary College, TANUVAS, Chennai. I earned a master’s and PhD in the field of veterinary virology from Indian Veterinary Research Institute, India. During my master’s program, I researched on the genetic characterization of capripoxviruses to understand the inter-species transmission of sheeppox and goatpoxviruses among sheep and goats. My doctoral thesis research was focused on the development of improved diagnostics for clinical and serological diagnosis of peste des petits ruminants virus.

My postdoctoral research focused on studying emerging and zoonotic virus-host interactions. I developed a golden hamster model for SARS-CoV-2 infection and characterized the replication kinetics and pathology in different organs including lungs. This model was employed for assessing the anti-inflammatory effect of phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor CC11050 and used for several collaborative projects on the pre-clinical evaluation of SARS-CoV-2 RBD-based vaccines and self-assembling SARS-CoV-2 spike-binding therapeutic peptides.

With the One Health approach, my research involves understanding the spillover of emerging and zoonotic viruses at the human-animal interface. SARS-CoV-2 or influenza A virus H5N1 infected animals shed the virus for a brief period following infection, whereas virus-induced antibodies persist for at least six months; suggesting the feasibility of an antibody detection approach for the surveillance in animals. To investigate the SARS-CoV-2 and influenza H5N1 exposure in animal species, I have optimized the protocols and processes of pseudovirus production and pseudovirus neutralization assay for SARS-CoV-2 variants and influenza A virus H5. Pseudovirus neutralization assays are robust, species-agnostic diagnostics that could be performed in BSL2.

Influenza D virus primarily infects cattle, and the serological evidence of infection was demonstrated in humans. Influenza D virus causes bovine respiratory disease complex (BRDC) in cattle, but the zoonotic impact of the virus is yet to be investigated. I am researching the influenza D virus to unravel the viral determinants of respiratory disease in cattle, understand the zoonotic implications, and develop a novel replication-defective influenza virus D vaccine.