Kothari, Hema
Primary Appointment
Internal Medicine
Education
- BS, Home Science, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology
- MS, Biochemistry, G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology
- PhD, Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, Central Drug Research Institute
- Postdoc, Coagulation Biology, UT Health Science Center
Contact Information
Email: hk6x@virginia.edu
Research Disciplines
Biochemistry, Cardiovascular Biology, Immunology, Translational Science
Research Interests
Cardiovascular Immunology, Molecular Biology, Translational Science
Research Description
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death worldwide. Preclinical and clinical studies have shown that inflammation, orchestrated by immune cells and cytokines, plays a causal role in the development and progression of atherosclerosis and heart failure (HF). Recent human trials demonstrated that anti-inflammatory therapies, including IL-1 and IL-6 inhibitors, could be potential therapeutics for reducing CVD events in subjects with high inflammation. Yet, these therapies are expensive, have side-effects, and do not benefit all. There is thus an unmet clinical need for advanced strategies to identify patients who will or will not respond to these therapies for an effective and cost-efficient treatment of CVD. I am using high-dimensional methods, such as mass cytometry (CyTOF) and single-cell RNA sequencing, to deeply immunophenotype blood cells of subjects with CVD and other chronic inflammatory diseases. My ultimate goal is to identify unique immune signatures associated with therapy responses, disease severity, and to discover novel immune targets for CVD therapy. We have developed custom CyTOF antibody panels to measure intracellular signaling and proinflammatory cytokines across all major immune cell subtypes in humans. Currently, I am using these panels to immunophenotype subjects with coronary artery disease, HF, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer to develop personalized therapeutic approaches to these health conditions.