Prof. Lalita Ramakrishnan

Prof. Lalita Ramakrishnan is a prominent microbiologist, known for her immense contributions to the understanding of the pathogenesis of tuberculosis. She currently serves as a professor of immunology and infectious diseases at University of Cambridge, and is a practicing physician.

Prof. Ramakrishnan received her M.B.B.S. from Baroda Medical College in India and her Ph.D. in immunology from Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA. After completing medical residency and clinical infectious diseases training, she did postdoctoral work with Stanley Falkow at Stanford University, California, USA, where she developed Mycobacterium marinum as a model for tuberculosis. She joined the faculty of the University of Washington, Seattle, USA, in 2001, where her laboratory developed the zebrafish model of tuberculosis that has enabled a detailed dissection of granuloma formation. Her research focuses on the mechanisms of tuberculosis pathogenesis and antibiotic tolerance, and the genetics of host susceptibility to tuberculosis.

Prof. Ramakrishnan has received a number of accolades, including the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Investigator in the Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease Award. She was also awarded a Howard Hughes Medical Institute postdoctoral fellowship to study tuberculosis. On April 28, 2015, Prof. Ramakrishnan was named to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.