Dr. N. Nanthakumar

Dr. Nanda Nanthakumar obtained his B. Sc Honors degree in Zoology from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He obtained his PhD in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology from the University of Houston, USA. He is an accomplished teacher and researcher at the Duke University Medical School, Harvard Medical School and Virginia Tech. Dr. Nanda Nanthakumar is in the forefront of the paradigm shift in biology demonstrating the dominant role of host-microbial mutualism in the development and the function of the mucosal immune system as well as on the physiological state of the digestive and absorptive, metabolic, reproductive, and neurological function. His and others work first revealed that the host microbiome is capable of overriding the genetic predisposition. He has published more than fifty peer reviewed research publications and many more reviews and abstracts. He is an authority in the cellular and molecular biology of the developing gastrointestinal tract and the pathophysiology of the Necrotizing Enterocolitis, an inflammatory bowel disease of the newborn. Dr. Nanthakumar has an outstanding record of teaching and conducting funded research with undergraduate and graduate students. He has mentored more than 54 students and they now have distinguished careers in various universities and the medical centers.