Dr Ram Yegappan
Ram specialises in the development of next generation biomaterials for wound healing applications
Ram Yegappan is an early career researcher at the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN) at The University of Queensland (UQ). They completed their PhD in September 2023, focusing on understanding the science and application of snake venom proteins in wound healing. Ram has authored 8 research articles (4 as first author, 2 as co-first author) and 1 book chapter. These publications not only showcase their contributions to the field but also underscore their proficiency in conducting impactful research that translates into practical applications. In addition, they have also served as peer reviewer for journals and have reviewed over 50 research and review articles. Ram’s track record of honours and awards demonstrate their commitment to academic and research excellence, further enhancing his credibility as an emerging leader in this field. In their current role, Ram manages multiple projects, conducting experiments at the interface of materials and cells, related to wound healing applications. They collaborate with researchers on project design, protocol preparation, data analysis and validation, statistical analysis and interpretation of findings, grant applications, and publications. Ram brings valuable expertise in the development and evaluation of next-generation biomaterials for wound healing applications, including the development of animal models for wound healing, in vivo evaluations, functional assays, as well as biochemical and histological evaluations. They have generated preliminary data for several grant proposals, and their foundational work formed the basis of two successful grants from the US Department of Defense and a CUREator, progressing the outcomes to preclinical stages.
Collaborations
Dr Jason Brown, Dr Peter Gilles, Dr Andrew Dalley, Herston Biofabrication Institute, Metro North Health, Australia - Wound Healing and Burn Wound Injury Research Assoc Professor Mark Fear and Professor Fiona Wood, University of Western Australia and Fiona Wood Foundation, Australia - Scarless Wound Healing Research Professor Mark Midwinter, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland - Trauma Injury Research Professor Matthew Linden, University of Western Australia - Platelet Biology Research Professor Warwick Bowen, Faculty of Science, The University of Queensland - Quantum Biotechnology Research
Key Publications
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
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
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