Dhanansayan (Dhanu) Shanmuganayagam
Assistant Professor - Nutrition
Research
Dr. Shanmuganayagam’s research focuses on the development and utilization of pigs as homologous models to close the translational gap in human disease research, taking advantage of the overwhelming similarities between pigs and humans in terms of genetics, anatomy, physiology, and immunology. He currently leads genetic engineering of swine at UW. His team has created over fifteen genetic porcine models including several of pediatric genetic cancer-predisposition disorders such as neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1). In the context of NF1, his lab is studying the role of alternative splicing of the nf1 gene on the tissue-specific function of neurofibromin and whether gene therapy to modulate the regulation of this splicing can be used as a viable treatment strategy for children with the disorder.
Selected Peer-Reviewed Articles
Schachtschneider KM, Jungersen G, Schook LB, Shanmuganayagam D. Editorial: “Humanized” Large Animal Cancer Models: Accelerating Time and Effectiveness of Clinical Trials. Frontiers in Oncology 2019; 9:793. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2019.00793.
Horton MV, Johnson CJ, Kernien JF, Patel TD, Lam BC, Cheong JZA, Meudt JJ, Shanmuganayagam D, Kalan LR, Nett JE. Candida auris Forms High-Burden Biofilms in Skin Niche Conditions and on Porcine Skin. mSphere. 2020 Jan 22;5(1). doi: 10.1128/mSphere.00910-19.
Miranpuri GS, Schomberg DT, Stan P, Chopra A, Buttar S, Wood A, Radzin A, Meudt JJ, Resnick DK, Shanmuganayagam D. Comparative Morphometry of the Wisconsin Miniature Swine™ Thoracic Spine for Modeling Human Spine in Translational Spinal Cord Injury Research. Annals of Neurosciences 2018; 25(4): 210-218. doi: 10.1159/000488022.
Lin Z, Guo F, Gregorich ZR, Sun R, Zhang H, Hu Y, Shanmuganayagam D, Ge Y. Comprehensive Characterization of Swine Cardiac Troponin T Proteoforms by Top-Down Mass Spectrometry. Journal of The American Society for Mass Spectrometry 2018; 29 (6):1284-1294. doi: 10.1007/s13361-018-1925-y.
Bekiares NA, Chen AS, Shanmuganayagam D, Meyers AD, Crenshaw TD, Krueger CG, Reed JD. Effect of Caloric Restriction on Metabolic Dysfunction of Young Rapacz Familial Hypercholesterolemic Swine (Sus scrofa). Comparative Medicine 2017; 67 (6):1-10.
Schomberg D, Miranpuri G. Chopra A, Patel K, Meudt JJ, Tellez A, Resnick DK, Shanmuganayagam Translational relevance of swine models of spinal cord injury. Journal of Neurotrauma 2016; 34(3):541-551. doi: 10.1089/neu.2016.4567.
Tellez A, Dillon KN, Hubbard B, Brady DA, Shanmuganayagam D, Rousselle SD. A Perspective on the Delivery of Renal Denervation Therapy Based on Preclinical Data. JACC: Basic to Translational Science 2016; 1 (4) 288-295.
Schomberg D, Tellez A, Meudt JJ, Brady D, Dillon KN, Arowolo FK, Wicks J, Rousselle SD, Shanmuganayagam D. Miniature swine for preclinical modeling of complexities of human disease for translational scientific discovery and accelerated development of therapies and medical devices. Toxicologic Pathology 2016; 44(3) 299-314.
Porras AM, Shanmuganayagam D, Meudt JJ, Krueger CG, Hacker TA, Rahko PS, Reed JD, Masters KS. Development of aortic valve disease in familial hypercholesterolemic swine: Implications for elucidating disease etiology. Journal of the American Heart Association 2015;4(10):e002254. doi: 10.1161/JAHA.115.002254.
Polewski MA, Burhans MS, Zhao M, Colman RJ, Shanmuganayagam D, Lindstrom MJ, Ntambi JM, Anderson RM. Plasma diacylglycerol composition is a biomarker of metabolic syndrome onset in rhesus monkeys. Journal of Lipid Research 2015; 56(8):1461-70.
Porras AM, Shanmuganayagam D, Meudt JJ, Krueger C, Reed JD, Masters KS. Gene expression profiling of valvular interstitial cells in Rapacz Familial Hypercholesterolemic swine. Genomic Data 2014; 2:261-263.
Johnson LL, Tekabe Y, Kollaros M, Eng G, Bhatia K, Li C, Krueger C, Shanmuganayagam D, Schmidt AM. Imaging RAGE expression in atherosclerotic plaques in hyperlipidemic pigs. European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (EJNMMI) Research 2014; 4:26.
Wentland AL, Wieben O, Shanmuganayagam D, Krueger CG, Meudt JJ, Consigny D, Rivera L, McBride PE, Reed JD, Grist TM. Measurements of wall shear stress and aortic pulse wave velocity in swine with familial hypercholesterolemia. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging 2015; 41(5):1475-85.
Ge W, Krueger CG, Weichmann AJ, Shanmuganayagam D, Varghese T. Displacement and strain estimation for evaluation of arterial wall stiffness using a familial hypercholesterolemia swine model of atherosclerosis. Medical Physics 2012; 39 (7): 4483-92.
Selected Book Chapters
Shanmuganayagam D, Folts JD. Effect of polyphenolic flavonoid compounds on platelets. In: Packer L, ed. Methods in Enzymology (Volume 335): Flavonoids and Other Polyphenols: Academic Press; 2001: 369–380
Selected Popular Press Articles
Wisconsin State Journal: “Pigs into people: UW joins renewed effort to use animals as organ donors”
The Atlantic: “Turning Piglets into Personalized Avatars for Sick Kids”
Technology feature article in Nature Lab Animal: “Cancer Modeling Thinks Big with the Pig”
UW News: “To Help Kids Battling a Rare Disease, Scientists Forge a Genetic Link Between People and Pigs”
Selected Videos
Mini-documentary by New York filmmaker (“Super Human” series): “Can Genetically Modified Pigs Be the Key to Treating Rare Diseases?”
“Pig Avatars: Models for Precision Medicine” PBS Wisconsin – University Place. Aired May 2, 2018.
“Personalized Medicine” PBS Wisconsin – University Place; Aired March 4, 2019. UW School of Medicine and Public Health faculty: Elizabeth Burnside, Lee Gravatt Wilke, Dustin Deming, Stephen Meyn, and Dhanansayan Shanmuganayagam, from the Department of Animal Sciences at UW-Madison, discuss how to create individualized medical care plans.
Undergraduate Courses
An Sci 375 – Animal Health and Disease (3 credits, Spring)
Course Description: Develops the students’ knowledge and appreciation for immunology and the interconnected role of multiple factors in health and disease (with a focus on infectious disease).
An Sci 375 – Integrative Animal Physiology Laboratory (1 credit, Fall)
Course Description: Develops the students’ knowledge and appreciation for the interconnectivity and the interdependence between physiological processes of the various organ systems by teaching students basic skills in animal handling, blood collection, sedation/anesthesia techniques and surgical procedures.
Inter-Ag 388 – CALS Honor Interdisciplinary Junior Seminar (1 credit, Spring)
Course Description:
Basic elements of experimental design and conduct in biological sciences, social sciences, natural resources, animal sciences and plant sciences are explored in a seminar format. This course is required for all honors students enrolled in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.
Requirements: Declared in honors program
Wisconsin Miniature SwineTM for Biomedical Research.
WARF: P130271US01
Wisconsin Miniature SwineTM for Cardiovascular Research.
WARF: P140228US01
Methods for predicting glucoregulatory dysfunction.
Publication number: WO2016138232A1
Tannin-containing gastrointestinal formulations and methods of use.
Publication number: US20140200266A1
Polyphenol-containing stem and vine extracts and methods of use.
Publication number: US20050129790A1