Avinash Veerappa, PhD
Education
- Post-doc, NYU School of Medicine, New York, NY
- PhD, University of Mysore, Karnataka, India
Research
Dr. Veerappa’s research focuses on two primary areas: Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) and Cancer. Both share fundamental themes of molecular and cellular dysregulation that can be illuminated through genomics, transcriptomics, and epigenetics. By integrating these approaches, his research seeks to uncover the shared and distinct mechanisms that drive disease progression and to identify novel avenues for intervention.
Substance Use Disorders (SUDs): SUDs are complex and multifaceted conditions marked by persistent craving, pleasure, and reward, ultimately culminating in addiction. Dr. Veerappa’s SUD research aims to decipher how chronic substance use alters neural pathways and shapes maladaptive circuits in the brain. Specifically, he investigates how repeated exposure to addictive substances leads to significant changes in global transcriptome signatures, thereby influencing neuronal connectivity and circuit-level function. By comparing these transcriptomic changes across chronic, acute, and withdrawal states, he hopes to pinpoint key molecular waypoints in the progression of SUDs. This includes examining the de-addiction process—understanding how neural and molecular adaptations can be reversed or mitigated, potentially paving the way for targeted therapies.
Cancer: Parallel to his work on SUDs, Dr. Veerappa also probes the intricate molecular landscape of cancer. A major focus of his research is determining somatic oncogenic variants at the single-cell level, providing a high-resolution view of tumor heterogeneity. By leveraging DNA variant analysis and advanced transcriptome and chromatin-state assays, his approach not only identifies critical genes and regulatory elements that predispose cells to malignant transformation but also reconstructs the clonal evolution lineage of tumors. This approach clarifies how specific subclones emerge and expand, potentially shaping therapeutic resistance and disease progression. Moreover, Dr. Veerappa explores how local circuit-level changes in the tumor microenvironment—such as immune interactions—reciprocally shape molecular events within individual cells. This systems-level perspective underscores how seemingly discrete somatic alterations can cascade into broader dysfunction, fueling both the initiation and progression of cancer.
Substance Use Disorders (SUDs): SUDs are complex and multifaceted conditions marked by persistent craving, pleasure, and reward, ultimately culminating in addiction. Dr. Veerappa’s SUD research aims to decipher how chronic substance use alters neural pathways and shapes maladaptive circuits in the brain. Specifically, he investigates how repeated exposure to addictive substances leads to significant changes in global transcriptome signatures, thereby influencing neuronal connectivity and circuit-level function. By comparing these transcriptomic changes across chronic, acute, and withdrawal states, he hopes to pinpoint key molecular waypoints in the progression of SUDs. This includes examining the de-addiction process—understanding how neural and molecular adaptations can be reversed or mitigated, potentially paving the way for targeted therapies.
Cancer: Parallel to his work on SUDs, Dr. Veerappa also probes the intricate molecular landscape of cancer. A major focus of his research is determining somatic oncogenic variants at the single-cell level, providing a high-resolution view of tumor heterogeneity. By leveraging DNA variant analysis and advanced transcriptome and chromatin-state assays, his approach not only identifies critical genes and regulatory elements that predispose cells to malignant transformation but also reconstructs the clonal evolution lineage of tumors. This approach clarifies how specific subclones emerge and expand, potentially shaping therapeutic resistance and disease progression. Moreover, Dr. Veerappa explores how local circuit-level changes in the tumor microenvironment—such as immune interactions—reciprocally shape molecular events within individual cells. This systems-level perspective underscores how seemingly discrete somatic alterations can cascade into broader dysfunction, fueling both the initiation and progression of cancer.
Selected Publications
- Veerappa AM, Pendyala G, Guda C. A systems omics-based approach to decode substance use disorders and neuroadaptations. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2021 Nov;130:61-80. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.08.016. Epub 2021 Aug 17. PMID: 34411560; PMCID: PMC8511293.
- Veerappa AM, Guda C. Coordination among frequent genetic variants imparts substance use susceptibility and pathogenesis. Front Neurosci. 2024 Apr 10;18:1332419. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1332419. PMID: 38660223; PMCID: PMC11041639.
- Veerappa AM#, Rowley MJ#, Maggio A, Beaudry L, Hawkins D, Kim A, Sethi S, Sorgen PL, Guda C. CloudATAC: A Cloud-based Interactive Pipeline for the Analysis of Pooled-cell and Single-cell ATAC-seq Data. Briefings in Bioinformatics. 2024, 25(S1). #equal first author