Karthickeyan Chella Krishnan, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator
Karthick was a Biotechnology major from India who then received his PhD in Systems Genetics from the University of Cincinnati in 2015 under the expert mentorship of Dr. Malak Kotb. He then completed his postdoctoral training with Dr. Jake Lusis in the Department of Medicine/Cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2021. In February 2021, he joined the Department of Pharmacology and Systems Physiology and is currently an Assistant Professor.

I started out as an engineer, then a microbiologist and now, a metabolism guy. I wonder what the future holds for me. I love gaming (PlayStation and board games), reading manga and binge-watching anime series.

Noble Kumar Talari, Ph.D
Postdoctoral Fellow

Noble received his PhD from University of Hyderabad. He then completed his first Postdoctoral fellowship under the mentorship of Prof. Naresh Babu Sepuri, where he studied the role of mitochondria in liver metabolism. Currently, he is interested to understand the role of mitochondria in metabolic disorders such as obesity, diabetes and NAFLD. He would further like to decode the key events with respect to mitochondrial metabolism that drive sex differences in these metabolic disorders.

I live in a fantasy world where I can communicate with cells, organelles, lipid droplets and the mitochondria through my dreams. Sometimes, I get answers for my experiments through my dreams. It is funny but it is real. I love to read publications and discuss about science. Also, I enjoy listening to music and I am a singer too.

Ushodaya Mattam, Ph.D
Postdoctoral Fellow

Ushodaya received her PhD from University of Hyderabad. She worked as a National Postdoctoral Fellow (DST-SERB-NPDF) with Prof. Naresh Babu V. Sepuri. She successfully completed a DBT (India) funded project as a principal investigator, where she studied the role of neuropeptide in mitochondrial homeostasis. Currently, she is interested in understanding CNS regulation on liver lipid and energy metabolism in NAFLD.

Apart from research, I love cooking and listening to music. I am a proud mother and I enjoy spending time with my son.

Afra Rahman
Bachelor’s Program in Medical Sciences

Afra is a pre-med student who aspires to be a physician. Afra is more interested in the field of genetics and wants to learn more about what our genetic background can tell us about our health. Afra is studying the role of liver ERMP1 expression in NAFLD pathophysiology.

I love going thrifting, listening to music, cooking for my roommate and me, and going for hikes when weather permits. In my spare time, you'll usually find me exploring new coffee shops.

Dharshini Kumar
Bachelor’s Program in Biological Sciences

Dharshini is a Biological Science student on the pre-medicine track pursuing a certificate in Deaf* Studies. She aspires to be a neonatologist one day. Dharshini is eagerly learning different lab techniques to develop and carry out experiments with fellow K lab members. She is interested in learning more about the role of SLC16A7 expression in NAFLD pathophysiology.

I love a good outing with friends, thrifting, cooking, curling up with a good book, or watching a good kdrama/tv show. My go-to dish is nice ramen and I'm always listening to BTS.