Suryanarayanan earned her bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from the University of Mumbai, India. She subsequently earned her Ph.D degree from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of California Los Angeles and the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. Prior to joining the University of the Sciences, Suryanarayanan was a founding faculty member at Manchester University College of Pharmacy, Indiana.
Suryanarayanan’s research focuses on neuropharmacology of ligand-gated ion channels. More specifically, the lab is interested in neuroimmune modulation of GABAA receptor function in normal physiology as well as disease states such as alcoholism and epilepsy. We recently discovered that the anti-inflammatory cytokine interleukin-10 modulates GABAergic neurotransmission in the brain. IL-10 is also involved in acute behavioral response to a single intoxicating dose of ethanol. Ongoing studies are investigating mechanisms of this neuroimmune modulation using mammalian cell culture as well as rat brain slice models.
Another area of interest (pursued via collaborations) is identification of novel biological compounds which have neuroprotective activity in disease states such as Parkinson’s disease.
Approaches used in the lab include field potential recordings, rat brain slice electrophysiology, biochemistry such as cross-linking and biotinylation-based western blotting, immunoprecipitation and neurobehavioral assays. The studies in my lab aim to provide significant insight into cytokine modulation of GABAergic transmission in normal physiology as well as acute and chronic ethanol exposure.
