Directory
Raj Headshot

Rajgopal Govindarajan, DVM, PhD

Chair of the Division of Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology

Professor

Pharmaceutics and Pharmacology
College Administration
Research Areas: The Division of Pharmaceutics & Pharmacology, Cancer, Chemical Biology

544 Riffe Building

govindarajan.21@osu.edu
(614) 247-8269
 Professional Website

Professional Interests

Dr. Govindarajan’s laboratory is interested in understanding and overcoming drug resistance in pancreatic cancer. His training is in the areas of animal sciences, cancer biology and drug transport-based pharmacokinetics, and has extensively used cell and animal models to evaluate nucleoside and oligonucleotide therapies. He also developed several new insights into the pharmacology and cytotoxicity of nucleoside analog drugs. Current focuses in his laboratory are to understand the epigenetic alterations in pancreatic cancer and to evaluate novel epigenetic reversal agents for effective pancreatic cancer treatment. Understanding epigenetic regulation of pluripotent stem cell factors in microRNA biogenesis is also of interest.

Education

  • Postdoc - University of Washington, Seattle, WA
  • PhD - University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE
  • MVSc - Indian Veterinary Research Institute, India
  • BVSc - Madras Veterinary College, TANUVAS, India

Honors

  • Research Scholar, 2015 - 2019
  • Guest Editor, 2015 - 2015
  • 2015 Reviewer, 2015 - 2015
  • Elected member, 2014 - 2017
  • 2013 Reviewer, 2013 - 2013
  • Deans Pharmacy Special Endowment Fund Award, 2013 - 2013
  • Cancer Research Award, 2012 - 2012
  • College of Pharmacy Meritorious Research Productivity Award, 2012 - 2012
  • Poster of Distinction, 2011 - 2011
  • Randy Ellison Cancer Research Award, 2011 - 2011
  • AAPS Exceptional Abstract & Podium Presentation Award, 2011 - 2011
  • Developmental Research Project Award, 2009 - 2010
  • Developmental Research Project Award, 2008 - 2009
  • Training Support Grant, 2007 - 2007
  • Exceptional Abstract & Podium Presentation Award, 2007 - 2007
  • Reichenbach Presidential Fellowship, 2004 - 2005
  • Norm and Bernice Harris Award for Outstanding Work in Cancer Research during Graduate Studies, 2003 - 2003
  • Graduate Fellowship, , 2002-2005, 2002 - 2005
  • Best Poster Award (II prize), 2002 - 2002
  • Senior Research Fellowship, 1999 - 2000
  • Junior Research Fellowship-Animal Biotechnology, 1997 - 1999

Publications

  • Sharma P, LaRosa C, Antwi J, Govindarajan R, Werbovetz KA. Imidazoles as Potential Anticancer Agents: An Update on Recent Studies. Molecules. 2021 Jul 11;26(14):4213. doi: 10.3390/molecules26144213. PMID: 34299488.
  • Persaud AK, Nair S, Rahman MF, Raj R, Weadick B, Nayak D, McElroy C, Shanmugam M, Knoblaugh S, Cheng X, Govindarajan R. Facilitative lysosomal transport of bile acids alleviates ER stress in mouse hematopoietic precursors. Nat Commun. 2021 Feb 23;12(1):1248. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-21451-6. PMID: 33623001; PMCID: PMC7902824.
  • Weadick B, Nayak D, Persaud AK, Hung SW, Raj R, Campbell MJ, Chen W, Li J, Williams TM, Govindarajan R. EMT-Induced Gemcitabine Resistance in Pancreatic Cancer Involves the Functional Loss of Equilibrative Nucleoside Transporter 1. Mol Cancer Ther. 2021 Feb;20(2):410-422. doi: 10.1158/1535-7163.MCT-20-0316. Epub 2020 Dec 9. PMID: 33298588.
  • Wani A, Al Rihani SB, Sharma A, Weadick B, Govindarajan R, Khan SU, Sharma PR, Dogra A, Nandi U, Reddy CN, Bharate SS, Singh G, Bharate SB, Vishwakarma RA, Kaddoumi A, Kumar A. Crocetin promotes clearance of amyloid-β by inducing autophagy via the STK11/LKB1-mediated AMPK pathway. Autophagy. 2021 Jan 19:1-20. doi: 10.1080/15548627.2021.1872187. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33404280.
  • Kim JY, Bai Y, Jayne LA, Hector RD, Persaud AK, Ong SS, Rojesh S, Raj R, Feng MJHH, Chung S, Cianciolo RE, Christman JW, Campbell MJ, Gardner DS, Baker SD, Sparreboom A, Govindarajan R, Singh H, Chen T, Poi M, Susztak K, Cobb SR, Pabla NS. A kinome-wide screen identifies a CDKL5-SOX9 regulatory axis in epithelial cell death and kidney injury. Nat Commun. 2020 Apr 21;11(1):1924. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-15638-6. PMID: 32317630; PMCID: PMC7174303.
  • Nair S, Strohecker AM, Persaud AK, Bissa B, Muruganandan S, McElroy C, Pathak R, Williams M, Raj R, Kaddoumi A, Sparreboom A, Beedle AM, Govindarajan R. Adult stem cell deficits drive Slc29a3 disorders in mice. Nat Commun. 2019 Jul 3;10(1):2943. doi: 10.1038/s41467-019-10925-3. PMID: 31270333; PMCID: PMC6610100.
  • Muruganandan S, Govindarajan R, Sinal CJ. Bone Marrow Adipose Tissue and Skeletal Health. Curr Osteoporos Rep. 2018 Aug;16(4):434-442. doi: 10.1007/s11914-018-0451-y. PMID: 29855795; PMCID: PMC6239196.
  • Rahman MF, Raj R, Govindarajan R. Identification of Structural and Molecular Features Involved in the Transport of 3'-Deoxy-Nucleoside Analogs by Human Equilibrative Nucleoside Transporter 3. Drug Metab Dispos. 2018 May;46(5):600-609. doi: 10.1124/dmd.117.079400. Epub 2018 Mar 12. PMID: 29530865; PMCID: PMC5896370.
  • Singh A, Govindarajan R. ENT3 utilizes a pH Sensing Mechanism for Transport. Channels (Austin). 2018 Jan 1;12(1):78-80. doi: 10.1080/19336950.2017.1389581. Epub 2017 Nov 15. PMID: 28985132; PMCID: PMC5972795.
  • Rahman MF, Askwith C, Govindarajan R. Molecular determinants of acidic pH- dependent transport of human equilibrative nucleoside transporter 3. J Biol Chem. 2017 Sep 8;292(36):14775-14785. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M117.787952. Epub 2017 Jul 20. PMID: 28729424; PMCID: PMC5592659.