Dr. Venkateswara Rao Amara
Dr. Venkateswara Rao Amara
Assistant Professor
Department: Regulatory Toxicology
Institute: National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education & Research Hajipur,
Bihar, India – 844102
Email: venkat[dot]amara[at]niperhajipur[dot]ac[dot]in
Faculty CV
| Degree/Certificate | College/University | Years of Study | % / CGPA | Division / Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PhD (Pharmacology & Toxicology) | NIPER S.A.S. Nagar, Punjab | 2011-16 | 9/10 | NA |
| M.S. (Pharm.) (Pharmacology & Toxicology) | NIPER Guwahati, Assam | 2009-11 | 8.78/10 | First rank in university |
| B. Pharmacy | Sri Vasavi Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, affiliated to Andhra University, Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) |
2005-09 | 83.32% | First rank in university |
| Intermediate (Class XI & XII) | Vignana Bharathi Junior College, affiliated to Board of Intermediate Education, A.P. |
2003-05 | 97.5% | 8th rank in the state |
| Class X | Ushodaya Public School, affiliated to Board of Secondary Education, A.P. |
2002-03 | 90.83% | First rank in town (Chirala, A.P.) |
Dr. Amara applies knowledge of biomedical science, pharmacology and toxicology to unravel the molecular pathology of disease and explore novel pharmacological interventions to address renal, hepatic and vascular injury associated with metabolic and non-metabolic diseases as well as drug-induced toxicity and adverse effects, contributing valuable insights to the broader field of biomedical science.
Research Areas of Interest
- Metabolic diseases, including diabetes mellitus, obesity and NAFLD.
- Nephropathy and hypertension.
- Drug-induced toxicity and hypertension.
- Nonclinical evaluation of efficacy and safety of pharmaceuticals.
| Period | Organization | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Apr 2023 – Dec 2023 | Meharry Medical College, USA | Biochemical Research Associate |
| Jan 2022 – Apr 2023 | Meharry Medical College, USA | Postdoctoral Fellow |
| Sep 2019 – Dec 2021 | Vanderbilt University Medical Center, USA | Postdoctoral Fellow |
| Apr 2018 – Sep 2019 | North Dakota State University, USA | Postdoctoral Fellow |
| July 2017 – Apr 2018 | Laila Nutraceuticals, India | Research Associate |
| May 2017 – July 2017 | Sivanaray Inc., India | Research Assistant |
Research Grants
- NIH – NIMHD – RCMI Program in Health Disparities Research at Meharry Medical College Pilot Project:
“Mechanism of Hypoxia-mediated APOL1 Expression in Human Podocytes”
(Unique Federal Award Identification Number: U54MD007586)
Awards
- Sun Pharma Science Scholar Award-2016 for Young Scientists in the field of Bio-medical sciences, held on Apr 28th, 2017 in New Delhi.
- OD Gulati Prize for best oral presentation in IPSCON 2016 organized by Indian Pharmacological Society held at PGIMER, Chandigarh.
- Gold medal and cash prize – First rank during M.S. (Pharm.).
- All India Rank-1 in Biological Sciences stream in NIPER-PhD JAT-2011.
- Sri Nageswara Rao Pantulu Gold Medal – Andhra University First rank during B. Pharm.
- E. Venkata Rao Shastiabdi Poorthi Prize – Andhra University First rank during B. Pharm.
- D. Visweswaram Shastiabdi Poorthi Prize – Andhra University First rank during B. Pharm.
- Pharmacy Department Silver Jubilee Prize of Andhra University – Andhra University first rank during B.Pharm.
- IDMA-J.B. Mody Award awarded on Jan 7th, 2011 at JW Marriott Hotel, Mumbai.
- National Merit Scholarship, Pratibha Award (Scholarship, Gold Medal) and Student Federation of India memento – State 8th rank and District 2nd rank in Intermediate.
Achievements
- Gold medal by school – Town first rank (Chirala) in Class X.
- ICMR-2011 (Life Sciences) – 92nd Rank.
- CSIR-UGC NET Dec 2011 – 12th Rank in Lectureship category.
- GATE 2011 (Life Sciences) – 289th Rank (97.8 percentile).
- GATE 2009 (Pharmacy) – 177th Rank (99.26 percentile).
- Completed distance learning course “General Course on Intellectual Property” from World Intellectual Property Organization Worldwide Academy (Mar 1 – Apr 15, 2010).
Membership in Professional Associations/Societies
- Life Member of Indian Pharmacological Society (LV-209).
- Registered with Andhra Pradesh State Pharmacy Council (63086/A1).
Peer Reviewer for Journals
- Medicine® of Lippincott® Publisher.
- Toxicology and Forensic Medicine, Openventio Publishers.
Media Reports
- Research abstract in Sun Pharma Science Foundation website (February 2017).
- Journal news in ASBMB Today magazine (December 2016):
“Metformin reverses metabolic memory in a diabetes model.” - Research highlight in Nature India (September 2016):
“Metformin, diet tweak to treat diabetic renal damage.”
| Sl. No. | Title |
|---|---|
| 1 | Bock F, Dong X, Elias BC, Parekh DV, Mernaugh G, Viquez OM, Hassan A, Amara VR, Liu J, Brown KL, Terker AS, Chiusa M, Leslie S. Gewin, Fogo AB, Brakebusch CH, Pozzi A, Zent R (2021). Rac1 controls epithelial collecting duct integrity by constraining actomyosin activity. Journal of Cell Biology 220(11): e202103080. |
| 2 | Ajayi EIO, Molehin OR, Oloyede OI, Kumar V, Amara VR, Kaur J, Karpe PA & Tikoo K (2019). Liver mitochondrial membrane permeability modulation in insulin-resistant, uninephrectomised male rats by Clerodendrum volubile P. Beauv and Manihot esculenta Crantz. Clinical Phytoscience 5(31):1-9. |
| 3 | Amara VR, Surapaneni SK, Tikoo K (2018). Metformin attenuates cardiovascular and renal injury in uninephrectomized rats on DOCA-salt: Involvement of AMPK and miRNAs in cardioprotection. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 362:95-104. |
| 4 | Amara VR, Surapaneni SK, Tikoo K (2017). Dysregulation of micro-RNAs and renin-angiotensin system in high salt diet-induced cardiac dysfunction in uninephrectomized rats. PLOS One 12(7): e0180490. |
| 5 | Tikoo K*, Sharma E*, Amara VR*, Pamulapati H, Dhawale VS (2016). Metformin improves metabolic memory in high fat diet (HFD)-induced renal dysfunction. Journal of Biological Chemistry 291:21848-21856. (*Contributed equally). |
| 6 | Dhawale VS, Amara VR, Karpe PA, Malek V, Patel D, Tikoo K (2016). Activation of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) attenuates allergic airway inflammation in rat asthma model. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 306:17-26. |
| 7 | Abhikumar TT, Sujit RT, Sivakumar G, Amara VR, Tikoo K, Prabha G and Prasad VB (2016). BiAnaCA: A Freely Accessible Tool for Data Analysis of End-Point Biochemical Assay. Journal of Bioinformatics, Computational and Systems Biology 1:104. |
| 8 | Augustine BB, Dash S, Lahkar M, Amara VR, Samudrala PK, Thomas JM (2014). Evaluation of immunomodulatory activity of ethyl acetate extract of Leucas aspera in swiss albino mice. International Journal of Green Pharmacy 8(2):84-89. |