
Binu Tharakan, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Surgery
Director of Research
Research Wing
Phone: (404) 752-1169
E-mail: btharakan@msm.edu
Education
Postdoctoral:
Texas A&M University College of Medicine & Baylor Scott and White, Temple, Texas,
USA
National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
National Center for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India
Graduate:
Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Agra University, Agra, India
Degree: Master of Science
Undergraduate:
Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, India
Degree: Bachelor of Science
Research Interests
Mechanisms of blood-brain barrier Dysfunction and brain edema following traumatic
brain injury.
Neuroinflammatory pathways in microvascular hyperpermeability following traumatic
injuries
New therapeutic strategies for brain edema following traumatic brain injury
Microvascular abnormalities following exposure to microgravity
Publications
Anasooya Shaji C, Robinson BD, Yeager A, Beeram MR, Davis ML, Isbell CL, Huang JH,
Tharakan B. A tri-phasic role for hydrogen peroxide in blood-brain barrier endothelial
cells. Scientific Reports. 9:133, 2019.
Robinson BD, Isbell CL, Shaji CA, Kurek S Jr, Regner JL, Tharakan B. Quetiapine protects
the blood-brain barrier in traumatic brain injury. J Trauma. 85:968-976, 2018.
Alluri H, Grimsley M, Anasooya Shaji C, Varghese KP, Zhang SL, Peddaboina C, Robinson
B, Beeram MR, Huang JH, Tharakan B. Attenuation of blood-brain barrier breakdown and
hyperpermeability by calpain inhibition. J Biol Chem. 291:26958-26969, 2016.
Alluri H, Wilson RL, Anasooya Shaji C, Wiggins-Dohlvik K, Savan Patel, Yang Liu, Xu
Peng, Beeram MR, Davis ML, Huang JH, Tharakan B. Melatonin preserves blood-brain barrier
integrity and permeability by matrix metalloproteinase-9 inhibition. PLoS One, 11:e0154427,
2016
Wiggins-Dohlvik K, Oakley RP, Han MS, Stagg HW, Alluri H, Anasooya Shaji C, Davis
ML, Tharakan B. Tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-2 inhibits burn induced derangements
and hyperpermeability in microvascular endothelial cells. Am J Surg. 211:197-205,
2016.
Alluri H, Wiggins-Dohlvik K, Davis ML, Huang JH, Tharakan B. Blood-brain barrier dysfunction
following traumatic brain injury. Metab Brain Dis. 30:1093-1104, 2015
Wiggins-Dohlvik K, Merriman M, Anasooya Shaji A, Grimsley M, Alluri H, Davis ML, Tharakan
B. TNF-α disruption of brain endothelial cell barrier is mediated through matrix metalloproteinase-9
Am J Surg. 208:954-60, 2014.
Alluri H, Stagg HW, Wilson RL, Clayton RP, Sawant D, Koneru M, Beeram MR, Davis ML,
Tharakan B. Reactive Oxygen Species-Caspase-3 Relationship in Mediating Blood-Brain
Barrier Endothelial Cell Hyperpermeability Following Oxygen-Glucose Deprivation and
Reoxygenation. Microcirculation. 21: 181-195, 2014.