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Dr. Srinivas Rao

Srinivas S. Rao D.V.M., Ph.D, M.B.A., Diplomate, ACVP, Chief, Laboratory Animal Medicine is responsible for all its programmatic activities. He also serves as the Animal Program Director for the VRC, NIH and as 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.

Dr. Rao received his veterinary training from University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India. He received his M.S and Ph.D from the Department of Pathology, University of Maryland, Baltimore. Dr. Rao is specialty trained both in Laboratory Animal Medicine and Veterinary Pathology and is a Licensed veterinarian in Maryland. Dr. Rao is a Diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Pathology. Dr. Rao has acquired his M.B.A. from the Smith School of Business.

Dr. Rao was a faculty member at the Department of Pathology, UMD. In addition he served initially as the Head of Veterinary Diagnostics and later as Chief, Veterinary Medical Pathology at the University of Maryland Medical School.

He has collaborated in the development of animal models (rodents, Lagomorphs and Primate animal models) with several investigators, including:

• Studying the pathogenetic mechanisms of diarrheogenic bacterial pathogens including Salmonella, Shigella and E.coli. Worked closely with laboratories that apply novel molecular genetic techniques to characterize bacterial virulence factors and mechanisms, with the aim of developing interventional therapy.
• Developing novel imaging technology to detect molecular changes of tumors in vivo. He worked with a multidisciplinary team assembled from nuclear medicine, oncology and veterinary pathology.
• Investigations in macaque model for radiation-induced and chemotherapy-induced bone marrow aplasia. He served as a pathologist in the project, performing morphometric assays, lymph node biopsies and for special histotechnological procedures.
• Human hepatocyte growth factor/ Severe Combined Immunodeficiency mouse (hHGF/SCID) model in its use as an ideal model for hepatocyte transplantation.