Ramkumar Tiruvannamalai Annamalai Ph.D.
Ramkumar Tiruvannamalai Annamalai
Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Specialty/Research Focus
Ageing; Biomedical Engineering; Histology; Immunology; Inflammation; Lipidic Delivery Systems; Models - cell and animal; Nanoparticles; Progenitor Cells; Proteomics; Stem Cells; Team Science; Transcriptomics; Translational Research
Professional Summary:
Ramkumar T. Annamalai is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University at Buffalo (UB). He did his postdoctoral training Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan. His research interests span both basic and translational research areas. He is also keen on commercializing reconstructive biomaterials and disease-modifying therapeutics and bringing them to market. His unique interdisciplinary training and education help him to engineer innovative biomaterials, disease models, and immunomodulatory therapies. Dr. Annamalai has been an active member of several academic committees and is committed to teaching and academic service. He is a reviewer in various peer-reviewed journals and serves in journal editorial boards and study sections (NSF (BMMB) and NIH (BMBI)). Also, he serves as faculty mentor for the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) and the Society for Biomaterials (SFB) student chapters.
The overarching goal of Dr. Annamalai’s research program is to understand the role of immune cells, senescent cells, and matrix mechanics in tissue regeneration and regulate them by engineering immunomodulatory and disease-modifying strategies to restore musculoskeletal tissues impaired by diseases, trauma, and aging. To this end, they work to 1) elucidate immune dysregulation and develop immunomodulatory biomaterials to repair musculoskeletal tissues, 2) study the influence of soft matrix mechanics on immune cell phenotype and function, 3) study the mechanobiology of macrophages and modulate their phenotype towards healing, and 4) develop immunomodulatory strategies and immune-responsive delivery vehicles for tissue regeneration. His research lab is currently supported by research grants through NIAMS R21 and NIGMS COBRE mechanisms
Education and Training:
- PhD, Biomedical Engineering, Wayne State University (2014)
- MS, Biomedical Engineering, Wayne State University (2009)
- BS, Biotechnology, Bharathidasan University (2007)
Grants and Sponsored Research:
- February 2021–February 2024
Immunomodulatory Therapy for Bone Regeneration
NIAMS
Role: Principal Investigator
$809,586 - February 2022–December 2023
Magnetic nanocomplexes-induced immunomodulation for fracture healing
NIAMS
Role: Principal Investigator
$350,000 - January 2022–August 2023
A bioinspired strategy to elicit transcriptional control of macrophages for bone regeneration
Orthopedic Trauma Association (OTA)
Role: Principal Investigator
$50,000
Journal Articles:
- Brightwell CR, Latham CM, Keeble AR, Thomas NT, Owen AM, Reeves KA, Long DE, Patrick M, Gonzalez-Velez S, Abed V, Annamalai RT, Jacobs C, Conley CE, Hawk GS, Stone AV, Fry JL, Thompson KL, Johnson DL, Noehren B, Fry CS. (2023) GDF8 inhibition enhances musculoskeletal recovery and mitigates posttraumatic osteoarthritis following joint injury. Science advances (Dec), 9(48): eadi9134. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adi9134
- Mandal S, Annamalai RT. (2023) Carbonized Tetracycline: a new class of nanomaterial with tuneable antioxidant, reduced cytotoxicity, immunomodulatory, and osteogenic properties. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology (Nov). doi:10.1101/2023.10.30.564661
- Suresh Kumar H, Barnett EN, Fowlkes JL, Kalaitzoglou E, Annamalai RT. (2023) Biomechanical Stimulation of Muscle Constructs Influences Phenotype of Bone Constructs by Modulating Myokine Secretion. JBMR plus (Nov), 7(11): e10804. doi:10.1002/jbm4.10804
- Patrick M, Stromberg A, Ahn J, Hankenson K, Annamalai RT. (2023) A Murine Delayed-Healing Model Associates Immune Response with Functional Bone Regeneration after Trauma. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology (Oct). doi:10.1101/2023.10.26.564177
- Kumar HS, Yi Z, Tong S, Annamalai RT. (2023) Magnetic nanocomplexes coupled with an external magnetic field modulate macrophage phenotype - a non-invasive strategy for bone regeneration. bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology (Sep). doi:10.1101/2023.09.02.556050
- Patrick MD, Keys JF, Suresh Kumar H, Annamalai RT. (2022) Injectable nanoporous microgels generate vascularized constructs and support bone regeneration in critical-sized defects. Scientific reports (Sep), 12(1): 15811. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-19968-x
- Patrick MD, Annamalai RT. (2022) Licensing microgels prolong the immunomodulatory phenotype of mesenchymal stromal cells. Frontiers in immunology (Jan), 13: 987032. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2022.987032
- Park E, Hart ML, Rolauffs B, Stegemann JP, T Annamalai R. (2020) Bioresponsive microspheres for on-demand delivery of anti-inflammatory cytokines for articular cartilage repair. Journal of biomedical materials research. Part A (Mar), 108(3): 722-733. doi:10.1002/jbm.a.36852
- Annamalai RT, Hong X, Schott NG, Tiruchinapally G, Levi B, Stegemann JP. (2019) Injectable osteogenic microtissues containing mesenchymal stromal cells conformally fill and repair critical-size defects. Biomaterials (Jul), 208: 32-44. doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2019.04.001
- Annamalai RT, Matthew HWT. (2019) Transport Analysis of Engineered Liver Tissue Fabricated Using a Capsule-Based, Modular Approach. Annals of biomedical engineering (May), 47(5): 1223-1236. doi:10.1007/s10439-018-02192-y
- Hong X, Annamalai RT, Kemerer TS, Deng CX, Stegemann JP. (2018) Multimode ultrasound viscoelastography for three-dimensional interrogation of microscale mechanical properties in heterogeneous biomaterials. Biomaterials (Sep), 178: 11-22. doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2018.05.057
- Annamalai RT, Naik TN, Prout HP, Putnam AJ, Stegemann JP. (2018) Biofabrication of injectable fibrin microtissues for minimally-invasive therapies: application of surfactants. Biomedical materials (Bristol, England) (Apr), 13(4): 045005. doi:10.1088/1748-605X/aab66f
- Annamalai RT, Turner PA, Carson WF, Levi B, Kunkel S, Stegemann JP. (2018) Harnessing macrophage-mediated degradation of gelatin microspheres for spatiotemporal control of BMP2 release. Biomaterials (Apr), 161: 216-227. doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2018.01.040
- Sung Hsieh HH, Chung MT, Allen RM, Ranganathan K, Habbouche J, Cholok D, Butts J, Kaura A, Tiruvannamalai-Annamalai R, Breuler C, Priest C, Loder SJ, Li J, Li S, Stegemann J, Kunkel SL, Levi B. (2017) Evaluation of Salivary Cytokines for Diagnosis of both Trauma-Induced and Genetic Heterotopic Ossification. Frontiers in endocrinology (Jan), 8: 74. doi:10.3389/fendo.2017.00074
- Tiruvannamalai Annamalai R, Rioja AY, Putnam AJ, Stegemann JP. (2016) Vascular Network Formation by Human Microvascular Endothelial Cells in Modular Fibrin Microtissues. ACS biomaterials science & engineering (Nov), 2(11): 1914-1925. doi:10.1021/acsbiomaterials.6b00274
- Tiruvannamalai Annamalai R, Mertz DR, Daley EL, Stegemann JP. (2016) Collagen Type II enhances chondrogenic differentiation in agarose-based modular microtissues. Cytotherapy (Feb), 18(2): 263-77. doi:10.1016/j.jcyt.2015.10.015
- Rioja AY, Tiruvannamalai Annamalai R, Paris S, Putnam AJ, Stegemann JP. (2016) Endothelial sprouting and network formation in collagen- and fibrin-based modular microbeads. Acta biomaterialia (Jan), 29: 33-41. doi:10.1016/j.actbio.2015.10.022
- Tiruvannamalai-Annamalai R, Armant DR, Matthew HW. (2014) A glycosaminoglycan based, modular tissue scaffold system for rapid assembly of perfusable, high cell density, engineered tissues. PloS one (Jan), 9(1): e84287. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084287