Binu Tharakan, Ph.D.

Binu Tharakan, Ph.D. 

Associate Professor & Vice-Chair of Research

Department of Surgery

Location: 720 Westview Dr. Atlanta, GA, USA
Phone: (404) 752-1169
E-mail: btharakan@msm.edu

Education

Postdoctoral:
Texas A&M University College of Medicine & Baylor Scott and White, Temple, Texas, USA

National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
National Center for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India
 
Graduate:
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
 
Agra University, Agra, India
Degree: Master of Science
 
Undergraduate:
Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, India
Degree: Bachelor of Science

Research Interests

  • Traumatic Brain Injury
  • Cerebral edema, intracranial pressure
  • Blood-brain barrier/neurovascular system
  • Neuroinflammation and mediators of inflammation
  • Microgravity-induced microvascular/neurovascular changes
  • Spaceflight Associated Neuro-Ocular Syndrome (SANS)

Publications

  • Sunny A, James RR, Menon SR, Rayaroth S, Daniel A, Thompson NA, Tharakan B
    (2024). Matrix metalloproteinase-9 inhibitors as therapeutic drugs for traumatic brain
    injury. Neurochem Intl, 2023, 172: 105642
  • Maldonado J, Huang JH, Childs EW, Tharakan B (2023). Racial/Ethnic Differences in Traumatic Brain Injury: Pathophysiology, Outcomes, and Future Directions. J Neurotrauma. 40:502-513. PMID: 36029219.
  • Robinson BD, Isbell CL, Melge AR, Lomas AM, Shaji CA, Mohan CG, Huang JH, Tharakan B (2022). Sci Rep. Doxycycline prevents blood-brain barrier dysfunction and microvascular hyperpermeability after traumatic brain injury. Sci Reports. 2022,12:5415. PMID: 35354869 
  • Tharakan B, Hunter FA, Muthusamy S, Randolph S, Byrd C, Rao VN, Reddy ESP, Childs EW (2022). ETS-Related Gene Activation Preserves Adherens Junctions and Permeability in Microvascular Endothelial Cells. Shock, 2022, 57:309-315. 
  • Anasooya Shaji C, Robinson BD, Yeager A, Beeram MR, Davis ML, Isbell CL, Huang JH, Tharakan B (2019). The Tri-phasic Role of Hydrogen Peroxide in Blood-Brain Barrier Endothelial cells. Sci Rep. 9:133. PMID: 30644421 
  • Robinson BD, Isbell CL, Anasooya Shaji C, Kurek S Jr, Regner JL, Tharakan B (2018). Quetiapine protects the blood-brain barrier in traumatic brain injury. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 85:968-976. PMID: 29985239
  • Alluri H, Grimsley M, Anasooya Shaji C, Varghese KP, Zhang SL, Peddaboina C, Robinson B, Beeram MR, Huang JH, Tharakan B (2016). Attenuation of Blood-Brain Barrier Breakdown and Hyperpermeability by Calpain Inhibition. J Biol Chem. 291:26958-26969. PMID: 27875293 
  • Alluri H, Wilson RL, Anasooya Shaji C, Wiggins-Dohlvik K, Patel S, Liu Y, Peng X, Beeram MR, Davis ML, Huang JH, Tharakan B (2016).  Melatonin Preserves Blood-Brain Barrier Integrity and Permeability via Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Inhibition. PLoS One. 11:e0154427. PMID: 27152411
  • Alluri H, Wiggins-Dohlvik K, Davis ML, Huang JH, Tharakan B (2015). Blood-brain barrier dysfunction following traumatic brain injury. Metab Brain Dis. 30:1093-104. PMID: 25624154

Honors and Awards

Outstanding Young Investigator Travel Award, The Microcirculatory Society (2011); Wigley
Award, Department of Surgery, Scott and White Memorial Hospital and Texas A&M Health
Science Center College of Medicine, Temple, Texas, USA (2009 & 2010); John F. Fogarty Center
International Research Fellowship, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD, USA
(2000); Asian fellowship Grant from the Japan Neuroscience Society to participate the fourth
IBRO World Congress of Neuroscience, Kyoto, Japan, July (1995)