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Department of Biomedical Engineering School of Engineering | Heersink School of Medicine

Palaniappan Sethu, Ph.D.

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Associate Professor This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
McCallum 290A
(205) 975-4185

Research and Teaching Interests: Bioengineered Systems for Physiologically Relevant Cell Culture

Office Hours: By appointment

Education:

  • B.E., PSG College of Technology, Mechanical Engineering
  • M.S.E., University of Michigan, Industrial Engineering
  • M.E., University of Michigan, Biomedical Engineering
  • Ph.D., University of Michigan, Biomedical Engineering
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Shriners Burns Hospital

Dr. Palaniappan Sethu directs the Cardiovascular Bioengineering Laboratory and the UAB Microfabrication Facility. He started his academic career as an assistant professor in the University of Louisville Department of Bioengineering. He came to UAB in 2013 and set up his research and training program in cardiovascular bioengineering.

Dr. Sethu has over 40 peer-reviewed journal publications and over 60 conference abstracts. He is the recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award, the Center for Environmental Genomics (CEGIB) Young Investigator Award, and the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Early Career Award for Translational Research.

  • Recent Courses
    • BME 350: Biotransport Phenomena
    • BME 460: Advanced Biotransport
  • Research Interests

    Our Laboratory uses micro- and nano-scale technologies to solve problems in biology and medicine. We focus on translational research to ensure technologies developed in the lab find practical application in the research or clinical setting.

    Current projects pursued in the lab can be broadly classified into three focus areas:

    • Microfluidic molecular and cellular analysis
    • Physiologically relevant cellular level models of cardiac and vascular tissue
    • Microphysiological systems {/slider}
  • Select Publications
    • Rogers AJ, Fast VG, Sethu P. Biomimetic Cardiac Tissue Model Enables the Adaption of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell Cardiomyocytes to Physiological Hemodynamic Loads. Anal Chem. 2016 Oct 4;88(19):9862-9868. Epub 2016 Sep 23. PubMed PMID: 27620367.
    • York SL, Sethu P, Saunders MM. In vitro osteocytic microdamage and viability quantification using a microloading platform. Med Eng Phys. 2016 Oct;38(10):1115-22. doi: 10.1016/j.medengphy.2016.06.002. Epub 2016 Jul 4. PubMed PMID: 27387904; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5035581.
    • Patibandla PK, Rajasekaran NS, Shelar SB, Giridharan GA, Litovsky SH, Sethu P. Evaluation of the effect of diminished pulsatility as seen in continuous flow ventricular assist devices on arterial endothelial cell phenotype and function. J Heart Lung Transplant. 2016 Jul;35(7):930-2. doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2016.03.008. Epub 2016 Mar 22. PubMed PMID: 27138701.
    • Rouchka EC, Flight RM, Fasciotto BH, Estrada R, Eaton JW, Patibandla PK, Waigel SJ, Li D, Kirtley JK, Sethu P, Keynton RS. Transcriptional profile of immediate response to ionizing radiation exposure. Genom Data. 2015 Dec 1;7:82-5. doi: 10.1016/j.gdata.2015.11.027. eCollection 2016 Mar. PubMed PMID: 26981369; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4778620.
    • York SL, Sethu P, Saunders MM. Impact of Gap Junctional Intercellular Communication on MLO-Y4 Sclerostin and Soluble Factor Expression. Ann Biomed Eng. 2016 Apr;44(4):1170-80. doi: 10.1007/s10439-015-1376-6. Epub 2015 Jul 8. PubMed PMID: 26154422; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4706514.
    • Akenhead ML, Horrall NM, Rowe D, Sethu P, Shin HY. In Vitro Evaluation of the Link Between Cell Activation State and Its Rheological Impact on the Microscale Flow of Neutrophil Suspensions. J Biomech Eng. 2015 Sep;137(9). doi: 10.1115/1.4030824. Epub 2015 Jul 9. PubMed PMID: 26065495; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5101036.
    • Nguyen MD, Tinney JP, Ye F, Elnakib AA, Yuan F, El-Baz A, Sethu P, Keller BB, Giridharan GA. Effects of physiologic mechanical stimulation on embryonic chick cardiomyocytes using a microfluidic cardiac cell culture model. Anal Chem. 2015 Feb 17;87(4):2107-13. doi: 10.1021/ac503716z. Epub 2015 Feb 2. PubMed PMID: 25539164; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4334242.
    • Patibandla PK, Rogers AJ, Giridharan GA, Pallero MA, Murphy-Ullrich JE, Sethu P. Hyperglycemic arterial disturbed flow niche as an in vitro model of atherosclerosis. Anal Chem. 2014 Nov 4;86(21):10948-54. doi: 10.1021/ac503294p. Epub 2014 Oct 17. PubMed PMID: 25279658.
    • Knipp RJ, Estrada R, Sethu P, Nantz MH. Thermally-Induced Substrate Release Via Intramolecular Cyclizations of Amino Esters and Amino Carbonates. Tetrahedron. 2014 May 1;70(21):3422-3429. PubMed PMID: 25061237; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4104717.
  • Academic Distinctions and Professional Societies
    • American Heart Association
    • Biomedical Engineering Society