Ashish Ranjan, B.V.Sc., Ph.D., Principal Investigator
Dr. Ranjan is an Endowed Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology. He also serves as Vice Chair for Comparative Oncology & Research Innovations and Director of the Veterinary Research and Oncology Clinic. He earned his B.V.Sc. degree (DVM equivalent) from Madras Veterinary College, in Chennai, India, followed by a Ph.D. in biomedical and veterinary sciences from Virginia Tech. Dr. Ranjan was then a visiting fellow at the Center for Interventional Oncology, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Dr. Ranjan's research interests are in the application of device-directed nanoparticles for solid tumor chemo-immunotherapy. His lab is actively engaged in preclinical and bench-to-bedside veterinary clinical trials and has received funding from several federal, state, and private sources. Dr. Ranjan has received several distinguished awards, including the NIH Merit Award. He also serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of Focused Ultrasound Foundation, UK's Humanimal Trust, and NIH panels.
Akansha Singh, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor
Dr. Singh earned her Ph.D. degree in immunology from National Institute of Immunology in New Delhi, India, in 2020. Her Ph.D. work focused on designing artificial tissue substitute to be used for organ regeneration, utilizing natural and organic polymers. She did a fellowship from University of Toronto, Canada, to work at Ross Tilley Burn Centre of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Toronto to advance her research on artificial dermal substitutes.
Dr. Singh did her postdoctoral training at the Department of Physiological Sciences at Oklahoma State University where she extended her knowledge of organic polymer to develop multimodal particles for enhanced antigen-presenting cell activation. Later, she served as research scientist and research assistant professor at OSU and focused her work on improving clinical outcomes of immunotherapies for cancer treatment. She was a part of canine clinical trial team at OSU where she treated canine cancer patients with therapeutic ultrasound and immunological cell-death inducing nanoparticles.
Dr. Singh has extensive experience with therapeutic ultrasound, cancer immunology, polymeric nano- and micro-particle formulations, biochemistry, molecular biology, protein structure and function, and published her work in peer-reviewed journals. Her current work is focused on understanding molecular and immunological variations among cancer patients, and designing a treatment regime based on patient immune and demographic profile.
Mina Kord Heydari, Ph.D. Student
Mina earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees in food science and technology engineering from Golestan Institute of Higher Education. She is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Cancer Biology Program.
Sri Vidhya Chandrasekar, Ph.D. Student
Sri is a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Radiation Oncology at UT Southwestern. She graduated from Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS), Chennai, India, and holds a bachelor's degree in veterinary science and animal husbandry. In Dr. Ranjan's lab, her research focuses on combining nanomedicine with therapeutic ultrasound to enhance the effectiveness of immunotherapies targeting solid tumors.