Ram specialises in the development of next generation biomaterials for wound healing applications

​Ram is a biologist who is engaged in research at the convergence of material science and biology. His primary area of research centers on the utilization of snake venom proteins to facilitate wound healing, specifically in the context of advancing bleeding control methodologies. His work aims to produce next generation biomaterials, with the ultimate goal of enhancing regenerative wound healing for individuals afflicted by burns and traumatic injuries.

Ram obtained his Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Genetic Engineering from India's SRM Institute of Science and Technology (2015). His Bachelors dissertation was at Texas A&M University, US, focusing on hydrogel microparticles via sequential click reactions. He was a visiting researcher at the University of South Australia (2015-2016), exploring Diels-Alder click reaction kinetics for bioconjugation. He then obtained Master of Technology (M.Tech) in Nanomedical Sciences from India's Amrita Centre for Nanosciences and Molecular Medicine (2018), backed by Department of Science and Technology's 'Nanomission' scholarship. Ram undertook varied projects, involving ceramic and polymeric nanoparticles with hydrogels for bone tissue engineering, completing his PhD in 2023 at the University of Queensland's Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology. In his PhD, he investigated the application of snake venom proteins' potential in wound management, supervised by Prof. Alan Rowan, Dr Amanda Kijas, and Dr Jan Lauko.

Collaborations

  • ​Dr Jason Brown, Dr Peter Gilles, Dr Andrew Dalley, Herston Biofabrication Institute, Metro North Health, Australia.
  • Professor Mark Midwinter, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland
  • Professor Warwick Bowen, Faculty of Science, The University of Queensland

Key Publications

Vignesh Selvaprithiviraj, Ramanathan Yegappan, Shiva Muthuswamy. 17 - Carrageenan in tissue engineering and biomedical applications, In Woodhead Publishing Series in Biomaterials, Natural Biopolymers in Drug Delivery and Tissue Engineering. Woodhead publishing, 2023

Zhao Wang, Jan Lauko, Amanda W Kijas, Elliot P Gilbert, Petri Turunen, Ramanathan Yegappan, Dongxiu Zou, Jitendra Mata, Alan E Rowan. Snake venom-defined fibrin architecture dictates fibroblast survival and differentiation. Nature Communications, 14, 1029, 2023

Ramanathan Yegappan, Jan Lauko, Zhao Wang, Martin F Lavin, Amanda W. Kijas, Alan E. Rowan. Snake venom hydrogels as a rapid hemostatic agent for uncontrolled bleeding. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 2022,11, 2200574

Ramanathan Yegappan, Vignesh Selvaprithiviraj, Sivashanmugam Amirthalingam, Annapoorna Mohandas, Nathaniel S. Hwang, R. Jayakumar. Injectable angiogenic and osteogenic carrageenan nanocomposite hydrogel for bone tissue engineering. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 2019, 122, 320-328

Muthuswamy Shiva*, Viswanathan Aparna*, Ramanathan Yegappan*, Vignesh Selvaprithiviraj, Anil Kumar Vasudevan, Raja Biswas, R. Jayakumar. Anti-staphylococcal and neutrophil chemotactic injectable κ-carrageenan hydrogel for infectious wound healing. ACS Applied Biomaterials, 2019, 2 (1), 378-387. * denotes equal contribution by authors

Ramanathan Yegappan, Vignesh Selvaprithiviraj, Sivashanmugam Amirthalingam, and R. Jayakumar. Carrageenan based Hydrogels for Drug Delivery, Tissue Engineering and Wound healing applications. Carbohydrate Polymers, 2018, 198, 385-400