Prof. Dr. Soni Pullamsetti

Research Priorities: Pulmonary diseases, pulmonary hypertension, cardiopulmonary diseases, epigenetics
Soni Pullamsetti is an Indian molecular biologist and pulmonary researcher. She studies how epigenetic mechanisms and transcription factors influence gene regulation. With that she wants to lay the groundwork for novel treatment strategies for pulmonary diseases – especially for pulmonary hypertension, right heart failure, and lung fibrosis.
A focus of Soni Pallumsetti’s research is pulmonary hypertension. This condition is currently uncurable. During pulmonary hypertension the cells of the vascular walls of lung arteries are chronically activated and proliferate. Thus, the vascular walls increase in thickness while the diameter of the vessels decreases. This leads to a heightened blood pressure. Soni Pallamsetti researches the epigenetic base of this condition and how the activated vascular walls can be influenced in such a way that stops the chronic cell activation and proliferation. Thus, she discovered growth and transcription factors that serve as a base for the development for medicines.
In the further course of the disease, pulmonary hypertension can lead to remodelling processes in the right ventricle that impair heart function. Together with her team, Soni Pallumsetti was able to identify genes that are activated during the rebuilding process. Building on these findings, she was able to detect proteins in the blood that might be viable biomarkers to assess the condition of the right heart chambre. In future these could help to sooner predict the course of the disease and generate new therapeutic approaches against pulmonary hypertension and its associated cardiovascular problems.
Soni Pullamsetti furthermore studies dyspnoea as a late complication of COVID-19. Here, too, the aim is to find better diagnostic options and to test new treatment approaches.