Srinivas S. Rao, D.V.M., Ph.D., MBA 
Diplomate ACVP
Chief, Laboratory Animal Medicine
Animal Program Director
Vaccine Research Center, NIH
Background & Training:
Dr. Rao graduated from UAS, Bangalore, India and is a Maryland State Licensed Veterinarian. He received his M.S. in bacterial pathogenesis (non-01 vibrio cholerae), and Ph.D. in Molecular Pathology (in vivo model for human hepatocyte transplantation) from the Department of Pathology, University of Maryland, Baltimore. Dr. Rao is specialty trained both in Laboratory Animal Medicine and Veterinary Pathology. Dr. Rao is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathology (DACVP) and acquired his M.B.A. from the Smith School of Business.
Current Roles:
Dr. Rao is the Chief of Laboratory Animal Medicine and is responsible for all the programmatic activities of centralized in vivo research activities for the Center. He also serves as the Animal Program Director for the VRC centralized animal resources program and is the Institutional Attending Veterinarian. Dr. Rao is responsible for the implementation of all the applicable federal and local laws pertaining to laboratory animal care and welfare. He also serves as project officer on many animal resources and research activities’ program for the VRC
Research:
Laboratory Animal Medicine has a centralized animal facility and Dr. Rao, as Chief of Laboratory Animal Medicine, collaborates independently with several investigators on mission-specific projects. These projects include animal model vaccines for emergent infectious diseases such HIV/AIDS, Influenza A H5N1, Ebola and Leishmania. In addition, Dr. Rao is a Principal Investigator of various animal research protocols that involve novel vaccine strategies or diagnostic procedures.
Dr. Rao’s research interests include macaque models of SIV, SHIV vaccinology, animal models of influenza (ferrets and avian), SIV and measles coinfection studies and non human primate models of human disease.
Committees:
NIH Animal Care and Use Committee (ACUC) (2003 – present)
NIH Animal Research Advisory Committee (ARAC) Subcommittee (2003 – present)
Publications:
1. Srinivas S. Rao, Phillip Gomez, John R. Mascola, Vi Dang ,Georgia R. Krivulka, Faye Yu, Carol I. Lord, Ling Shen, Robert Bailer, Gary J. Nabel, Norman L. Letvin, “Comparative Evaluation of Three Different Intramuscular Delivery Methods for DNA Immunization in a Nonhuman Primate Animal Model,” Vaccine. 2006 Jan.; 24(3):367-73.
2. Rao S, Hu S, McHugh L, Lueders K, Henry K, Zhao Q, Fekete RA, Kar S, Adhya S, Hamer DH., “Toward a live microbial microbicide for HIV: commensal bacteria secreting an HIV fusion inhibitor peptide,” Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2005 Aug.; 102(34):11993-8.
3. Shu Y, Winfrey S, Yang ZY, Xu L, Rao SS, Srivastava I, Barnett SW, Nabel GJ, Mascola JR, “Efficient protein boosting after plasmid DNA or recombinant adenovirus immunization with HIV-1 vaccine constructs,” Vaccine. 2007 Feb.; 25(8): 1398-408.
4. Brenchley JM, Price DA, Schacker TW, Asher TE, Silvestri G, Rao S, Kazzaz Z, Bornstein E, Lambotte O, Altmann D, Blazar BR, Rodriguez B, Teixeira-Johnson L, Landay A, Martin JN, Hecht FM, Picker LJ, Lederman MM, Deeks SG, Douek DC, “Microbial translocation is a cause of systemic immune activation in chronic HIV infection,” Nat Med. 2006 Dec.; 12(12):1365-1371.
5. Sun Y, Schmitz JE, Buzby AP, Barker BR, Rao SS, Xu L, Yang ZY, Mascola JR, Nabel GJ, Letvin NL, “Virus-specific cellular immune correlates of survival in vaccinated monkeys after simian immunodeficiency virus challenge,” J Virol. 2006 Nov.; 80(22): 10950-6.
6. Liu X, Lagenaur LA, Simpson DA, Essenmacher KP, Frazier-Parker CL, Liu Y, Tsai D, Rao SS, Hamer DH, Parks TP, Lee PP, Xu Q, “Engineered vaginal lactobacillus strain for mucosal delivery of the human immunodeficiency virus inhibitor cyanovirin-N,” Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2006 Oct.; 50(10):3250-9.
7. Letvin NL, Mascola JR, Sun Y, Gorgone DA, Buzby AP, Xu L, Yang ZY, Chakrabarti B, Rao SS, Schmitz JE, Montefiori DC, Barker BR, Bookstein FL, Nabel GJ, “Preserved CD4+ central memory T cells and survival in vaccinated SIV-challenged monkeys,” Science. 2006 Jun.; 312(5779):1530-3.
8. Smith JM, Rao SS, Stump KC, Benazzi C, Sarli G, DeTolla LJ., “Mammary ductal carcinoma with comedo pattern in a rhesus macaque,” Contemp Top Lab Anim Sci. 2005 Jul.; 44(4): 29-33.
9. Jeffrey D. Hasday, Allen Garrison, Ishwar S. Singh, Theodore Standiford, Garrettson S. Ellis, Srinivas Rao, Ju-Ren He, Penny Rice, Mariah Frank, Simeon E. Goldblum, and Rose M. Viscardi, “Febrile-Range Hyperthermia Augments Pulmonary Neutrophil Recruitment and Amplifies Pulmonary Oxygen Toxicity,” Am J Pathol. 2003 Jun.; 162(6):2005-17.
10. Viscardi RM, Kaplan J, Lovchik JC, He JR, Hester L, Rao S, Hasday JD.“Characterization of a murine model of Ureaplasma urealyticum pneumonia,” Infect Immun. 2002 Oct.; 70(10):5721-9.
11. Vigneulle RM, Rao S, Fasano A, MacVittie TJ. “Structural and functional alterations of the gastrointestinal tract following radiation-induced injury in the rhesus monkey,” Dig Dis Sci. 2002 Jul.; 47(7):1480-91.
12. Reid W, Sadowska M, Denaro F, Rao S, Foulke J Jr, Hayes N, Jones O, Doodnauth D, Davis H, Sill A, O'Driscoll P, Huso D, Fouts T, Lewis G, Hill M, Kamin-Lewis R, Wei C, Ray P, Gallo RC, Reitz M, Bryant J. “An HIV-1 transgenic rat that develops HIV-related pathology and immunologic dysfunction,” Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Jul.; 98(16):9271-6.
13. Reid WC, Carmichael KP, Srinivas S, Bryant JL. “Pathologic changes associated with use of tribromoethanol (avertin) in the Sprague Dawley rat,” Lab Anim Sci. 1999 Dec.; 49(6):665-7.
14. Bunnell JE, Trigiani ER, Srinivas SR, Dumler JS. “Development and distribution of pathologic lesions are related to immune status and tissue deposition of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis agent-infected cells in a murine model system,” J Infect Dis. 1999 Aug.; 180(2):546-50.
15. Navarro-Garcia F, Eslava C, Villaseca JM, Lopez-Revilla R, Czeczulin JR, Srinivas S, Nataro JP, Cravioto A. “In vitro effects of a high-molecular-weight heat-labile enterotoxin from enteroaggregative Escherichia coli,” Infect Immun. 1998 Jul.; 66(7):3149-54.
16. Elliott SJ, Srinivas S, Albert MJ, Alam K, Robins-Browne RM, Gunzburg ST, Mee BJ, Chang BJ. “Characterization of the roles of hemolysin and other toxins in enteropathy caused by alpha-hemolytic Escherichia coli linked to human diarrhea,” Infect Immun. 1998 May; 66(5):2040-51.
17. Xu M, Kumar D, Srinivas S, Detolla LJ, Yu SF, Stass SA, Mixson AJ. “Parenteral gene therapy with p53 inhibits human breast tumors in vivo through a bystander mechanism without evidence of toxicity,” Hum Gene Ther. 1997 Jan.; 8(2):177-85.
18. DeTolla LJ, Srinivas S, Whitaker BR, Andrews C, Hecker B, Kane AS, Reimschuessel R. “Guidelines for the Care and Use of Fish in Research,” ILAR J. 1995; 37(4):159-173.
Note: Srinivas S. Rao was previously S. Srinivas
