Dr. Shyamala Thirunavukkarasu received her PhD from the University of Sydney focusing on the role of pathogen and host associated lipids in the macrophage immune responses to Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis-infection. She completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center working on the gender specific role of cytochrome P450 1B1 mediated effects on steroid metabolism alterations in cardiovascular and renal diseases. She then completed a senior postdoctoral research fellowship at the Idaho Veterans Research and Education Foundation on the cell cycle/cell death programming in myoblasts in response to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug administration during group A streptococcal infections. Her research interests involve identifying the mechanisms that contribute to host immune response to infections and metabolic diseases & disorders. Shyamala’s research at Dr. Khader’s lab involves the identification of common inter-species immune correlates of inflammation and risk of TB and utilizing animal models to determine the function of genes identified as correlates of risk and disease in humans.