Vel Murugan

Vel Murugan

Director of Clinical Research,
Biodesign Center for Personalized Diagnostics
Other ASU affiliations
Health Solutions Ambassador, College of Health Solutions
Research Professor and Director of Clinical Research, Personalized Diagnostics Faculty
Senior Global Futures Scientist, Global Futures Scientists and Scholars
  • [email protected]
  • Phone: 480-727-0402
  • ‌
  • Biodesign A240A 1001 S McAllister Ave. Tempe, AZ 85287
  • Mail code: 6401
    Campus: Tempe
  • ‌
Biography Research Teaching Public Work Industry Experience
Previous Next
Long Bio

Dr. Vel Murugan is a molecular biologist, translational diagnostics scientist, and clinical laboratory leader with more than 25 years of experience spanning academia, biotechnology, public health, and clinical laboratory operations. His research and leadership have focused on developing innovative diagnostic technologies and biomarker-driven solutions to address major public health challenges, including infectious diseases, radiation exposure, environmental health threats, and emerging pathogens.

Dr. Murugan currently serves as Research Professor and Director of Clinical Research at the Biodesign Institute and the Center for Personalized Diagnostics at Arizona State University (ASU). He also serves as Director of Clinical Diagnostics and Laboratory Operations for the ASU Health Observatory and holds appointments within the College of Health Solutions. His research program integrates genomics, epigenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, artificial intelligence, and advanced computational analytics to develop precision diagnostic tools for both laboratory and point-of-care applications.

He earned his PhD in Molecular Biology from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Mumbai, India, and completed postdoctoral training at The University of Texas at Austin and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute/Harvard Medical School, where his research focused on chromosome biology, cell-cycle regulation, cancer biology, and genome stability. He later earned an MBA from Northeastern University, combining scientific expertise with leadership and operational management experience.

Prior to joining ASU, Dr. Murugan held scientific and leadership positions at Sanaria Inc., where he directed assay development programs supporting the advancement of attenuated malaria vaccines and led efforts in vaccine immunology, infectious disease biology, and liver-stage malaria research. His early scientific contributions span molecular genetics, cancer biology, vaccine development, infectious disease research, and translational assay development.

Since joining ASU, Dr. Murugan has established a nationally recognized research program focused on biomarker discovery, molecular diagnostics, radiation biodosimetry, and public health preparedness. He led the development of high-throughput diagnostic platforms capable of detecting and quantifying human radiation exposure following radiological and nuclear incidents. His work has contributed to multiple federally funded programs aimed at advancing next-generation biodosimetry technologies and supporting FDA-directed commercialization efforts in partnership with industry collaborators.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Murugan founded and led the ASU Biodesign Clinical Testing Laboratory (ABCTL), serving as Program and Technical Director and later as Chief Executive Officer. Under his leadership, ABCTL became one of the largest university-based CLIA-certified and CAP-accredited clinical laboratories in the United States, performing more than 1.5 million molecular diagnostic tests and sequencing over 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 genomes. The laboratory played a critical role in protecting university and community populations while providing real-time genomic surveillance that informed public health decision-making throughout Arizona.

Dr. Murugan currently serves as Principal Investigator of one of the nation's CDC-funded Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness (Flu VE) Network centers, leading efforts to evaluate vaccine effectiveness, respiratory pathogen epidemiology, and health outcomes in underserved Arizona communities. His laboratory is also advancing pathogen-agnostic diagnostic platforms that combine multiomic profiling with machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve outbreak detection, clinical decision-making, and population health surveillance.

Throughout his career, Dr. Murugan has built and led large multidisciplinary collaborations involving academic institutions, healthcare systems, biotechnology companies, and federal agencies. He has served as Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator, Site Principal Investigator, or senior investigator on programs supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Department of Defense (DoD), and multiple state agencies. He has collaborated extensively with organizations including Thermo Fisher Scientific, Leidos, Mayo Clinic, MRI Global, Dignity Health, Safe Health Systems, and numerous healthcare networks to translate innovative technologies into deployable diagnostic solutions.

His research has been instrumental in major DARPA and BARDA initiatives focused on epigenetic diagnostics, immune profiling, radiation biodosimetry, and next-generation biomarker discovery. He played key leadership roles in the DARPA-funded DEPICT and AIM programs, which sought to leverage host-response biomarkers and advanced analytics for early detection of infectious diseases and environmental exposures. His work has also supported the development of large-scale mail-in saliva collection systems and other decentralized testing approaches that expanded access to clinical diagnostics during public health emergencies.

Dr. Murugan has extensive experience managing complex clinical research infrastructures, including HIPAA-compliant data systems, multi-institutional clinical studies, biobanking operations, and regulatory frameworks involving NDAs, MTAs, DUAs, IRBs, CLIA, CAP, and FDA requirements. Collectively, the collaborative research programs he has helped lead have secured more than $250 million in federal, state, foundation, and industry-sponsored funding.

An accomplished scholar and inventor, Dr. Murugan has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications, review articles, book chapters, and patents spanning molecular biology, diagnostics, infectious diseases, vaccine research, radiation biodosimetry, and biomarker discovery. His work has appeared in leading journals including Science, Molecular Cell, Cell Host & Microbe, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Emerging Infectious Diseases, Nature Chemistry, and MMWR. He also serves on journal editorial boards and has contributed to the development of several patented diagnostic technologies.

Beyond his research and leadership activities, Dr. Murugan is deeply committed to scientific mentorship, workforce development, and research evaluation. He has mentored numerous undergraduate students, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and research scientists and currently serves as a grant reviewer for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), and the Arizona Biomedical Research Centre (ABRC). He has also served as a reviewer for leading journals in molecular diagnostics, translational medicine, infectious diseases, and clinical laboratory science.

Through his research, leadership, and collaborative partnerships, Dr. Murugan continues to advance precision diagnostics and translational medicine, with the goal of improving public health preparedness, accelerating clinical innovation, and delivering actionable diagnostic solutions that improve patient outcomes worldwide.

Education

B.Sc: Madurai Kamaraj University, India

M.Sc: Madurai Kamaraj University, India

Ph.D: Tata Inst. of Fundamental Research

Postdoc: The University of Texas at Austin

Fellowship: Harvard Medical School

MBA: Northeastern University

Google Scholar URL
https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=oJrBC8gAAAAJ
Experts.asu.edu URL
https://asu.elsevierpure.com/en/persons/vel-murugan
ORCID Profile ID
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7368-7742
Publications
  1. Liu F, Gross FL, Li Z, House SL, Curley T, Saade EA, Albar Z, Zimmerman RK, Nowalk MP, Gaglani M, Rose S, Murugan V, Bobbett B, Martin ET, Vaughn IA, Wernli KJ, Kiniry EL, Walter EB, Williams OL, Grant L, Noble EK, Sumner KM, Price AM, Flannery B, Chung JR, Levine MZ, Investigators USFVN. Birth cohort effects in adults associated with influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 vaccine effectiveness. J Infect Dis. 2026. Epub 20260608. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiag294. PubMed PMID: 42253097.
  2. Garden PM, Li Y, Murugan V, Green AA. Multiplexed Isothermal Nucleic Acid Detection Using Sequence-Specific Cleavage Mediated by Repair Endonucleases. medRxiv. 2026:2026.05.29.26354475. doi: 10.64898/2026.05.29.26354475.
  3. Chung, J.R., Price, A.M., House, S.L., Mills, J., Wernli, K.J., Sanchez, M., Martin, E.T., Vaughn, I.A., Murugan, V., Kramer, J., et al. (2026). Influenza vaccine effectiveness against outpatient acute respiratory illness with laboratory-confirmed influenza, United States, 2024-25 season. medRxiv. 10.64898/2026.03.24.26348229.
  4. Maloney, P., Reeves, E.L., Wielgosz, K., Price, A.M., Natarajan, K., DeSilva, M.B., Dascomb, K., Klein, N.P., Tartof, S.Y., Irving, S.A., et al. (2026). Interim Estimates of 2025-26 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness - United States, September 2025-February 2026. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 75, 116–123. 10.15585/mmwr.mm7509a2.
  5. Scotch, M., Faleye, T.O., Urquidez-Negrete, A., Bobbett, B., Boyle, V., Conard, K., Sublasky-Rodriguez, L., and Murugan, V. (2026). Influenza A(H3N2) subclade K (J.2.4.1) viruses associated with a surge at a university health clinic, Arizona, the United States, November to early December 2025. Euro Surveill 31. 10.2807/1560-7917.ES.2026.31.7.2600111.
  6. Biddle JE, House S, Kwon JH, Presti RM, Fritz SA, Curley T, McLaren SH, Stockwell MS, Schmitz J, Talbot HK, Grijalva CG, Saade EA, Albar Z, Murugan V, Cruz RA, Martin ET, Vaughn IA, Wernli KJ, Wickersham BM, Zimmerman RK, Geffel KM, Gaglani M, Smith ME, Walter EB, Bontrager NAB, Bristol L, Price AM, Chung JR, Flannery B, Rolfes MA, Mellis AM, O’Neil CA, Vu KT, Yerbic F, Teshome M, Astarita A, Hubert S, Boyle MG, Schneider AL, Richardson LM, Zhu Y, Scott TA, King JA, Anderson E, Schibley-Laird B, Goodridge R, Abrams O, Cornelison SA, Liu D, Vargas CY, Sano E, Wang L, Capasso-Gulve E, Faryar K, Donskey C, Canaday D, Gibson G, Aguilar K, Maras O, Hearn D, Lava JA, Choe J, Nguyen M, Phillips CH, Weissman A, Conti T, Taylor LH, McKillop A, Rose S, Murthy K, Williams OL. Estimating Influenza Transmission Parameters: Comparing Two Study Designs, 2023-2024. Epidemics. 2026:100888. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epidem.2026.100888.
  7. Yan, Z.; Li, Y.; Eshed, A.; Wu, K.; Ticktin, Z.M.; Murugan, V.; Lim, E.S.; Hong, F.; Green, A.A. Programmable fluorescent aptamer-based RNA switches for rapid identification of point mutations. Nat Chem 2025, doi:10.1038/s41557-025-01995-6.
  8. Chung, Y.; Murugan, V.; Beyene, K.M.; Chen, D.-G. Pseudo Partial Likelihood Method for Proportional Hazards Models when Time Origin Is Missing for Control Group with Applications to SARS-CoV-2 Seroprevalence Study. Journal of Data Science 2025, 1–14, doi:10.6339/25-JDS1199.
  9. Holland, S.C.; Abctl Diagnostic, T.; Sequencing, T.; Shoemaker, I.; Rosov, T.; Compton, C.C.; LaBaer, J.; Lim, E.S.; Murugan, V. Large-Scale Saliva-Based Clinical Surveillance Enables Real Time SARS-CoV-2 Outbreak Detection and Genomic Tracking (Arizona, 2020-2023). Diagnostics (Basel) 2025, 15, doi:10.3390/diagnostics15202663.
  10. Boughter, C.T.; Chatterjee, B.; Ohta, Y.; Gorga, K.; Blair, C.; Hill, E.M.; Fasana, Z.; Adebamowo, A.O.; Ammar, F.; Kosik, I.; et al. CountASAP: a lightweight, easy to use python package for processing ASAPseq data. BMC Bioinformatics 2025, doi:10.1186/s12859-025-06311-0.
  11. Arockiam S, Nguyen VT, Knappenberger M, Anderson C, Hansen M, Murugan V, Christen JB, Anderson KS. Rapid on-chip nucleic acid extraction for point-of-care salivary diagnostics. Anal Methods. 2025. Epub 20250508. doi: 10.1039/d4ay02201g. PubMed PMID: 40336490.
  12. Mirjalili S, Ikbal MA, Hou CW, Mohammadi MK, Choi Y, Kelbauskas L, VanBlargan LA, Hogue BG, Murugan V, Diamond MS, Wang C. Nanoparticle-supported, rapid, digital quantification of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 variants. Biosens Bioelectron. 2025;285:117549. Epub 20250507. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2025.117549. PubMed PMID: 40383030; PMCID: PMC12145868.
  13. Frutos AM, Cleary S, Reeves EL, Ahmad HM, Price AM, Self WH, Zhu Y, Safdar B, Peltan ID, Gibbs KW, Exline MC, Lauring AS, Ball SW, DeSilva M, Tartof SY, Dascomb K, Irving SA, Klein NP, Dixon BE, Ong TC, Vaughn IA, House SL, Faryar KA, Nowalk MP, Gaglani M, Wernli KJ, Murugan V, Williams OL, Selvarangan R, Weinberg GA, Staat MA, Halasa NB, Sahni LC, Michaels MG, Englund JA, Kirby MK, Surie D, Dawood FS, Clopper BR, Moline HL, Link-Gelles R, Payne AB, Harker E, Wielgosz K, Weber ZA, Yang DH, Lewis NM, DeCuir J, Olson SM, Chung JR, Flannery B, Grohskopf LA, Reed C, Garg S, Ellington S. Interim Estimates of 2024-2025 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness - Four Vaccine Effectiveness Networks, United States, October 2024-February 2025. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2025;74(6):83-90. Epub 20250227. doi: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7406a2. PubMed PMID: 40014791.
  14. Hou, C.W.; Williams, S.; Trivino-Soto, G.; Boyle, V.; Rainford, D.; Vicino, S.; Magee, M.; Chung, Y.; LaBaer, J.; Murugan, V. The omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 drove broadly increased seroprevalence in a public university setting. PLOS Glob Public Health 2025, 5, e0003893, doi:10.1371/journal.pgph.0003893.
  15. Hou, C.-W.; Williams, S.; Boyle, V.; Roeder, A.; Bobbett, B.; Garcia, I.; Caruth, G.; Magee, M.; Chung, Y.; Lake, D.F.; et al. Tracking Immunity: An Increased Number of COVID-19 Boosters Increases the Longevity of Anti-RBD and Anti-RBD-Neutralizing Antibodies. Vaccines 2025, 13, 61.
  16. Chung, J.R.; Price, A.M.; Zimmerman, R.K.; Moehling Geffel, K.; House, S.L.; Curley, T.; Wernli, K.J.; Phillips, C.H.; Martin, E.T.; Vaughn, I.A.; et al. Influenza vaccine effectiveness against medically attended outpatient illness, United States, 2023-24 season. Clin Infect Dis 2025, doi:10.1093/cid/ciae658.
  17. Schuetter, J.; Minard-Smith, A.; Hill, B.; Beare, J.L.; Vornholt, A.; Burke, T.W.; Murugan, V.; Smith, A.K.; Chandrasekaran, T.; Shamma, H.J.; et al. Integrated epigenomic exposure signature discovery. Epigenomics 2024, 1-17, doi:10.1080/17501911.2024.2375187.
  18. Ridha, I.; Xu, C.; Zhang, Y.; Chung, Y.; Park, J.G.; LaBaer, J.; Murugan, V. Multiplexed Methylated DNA Immunoprecipitation Sequencing (Mx-MeDIP-Seq) to Study DNA Methylation Using Low Amounts of DNA. DNA 2024, 4, 397-416.
  19. Holland, S.C.; Smith, M.F.; Holland, L.A.; Maqsood, R.; Hu, J.C.; Murugan, V.; Driver, E.M.; Halden, R.U.; Lim, E.S. Wastewater and clinical surveillance of respiratory viral pathogens on a university campus. Sci Total Environ 2024, 948, 174981, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174981.
  20. Holland, S.C.; Smith, M.F.; Holland, L.A.; Maqsood, R.; Hu, J.C.; Murugan, V.; Driver, E.M.; Halden, R.U.; Lim, E.S. Human adenovirus outbreak at a university campus monitored by wastewater and clinical surveillance. medRxiv 2024, doi:10.1101/2024.03.27.24304990.
  21. Chung, J.R.; Shirk, P.; Gaglani, M.; Mutnal, M.B.; Nowalk, M.P.; Moehling Geffel, K.; House, S.L.; Curley, T.; Wernli, K.J.; Kiniry, E.L.; et al. Late-Season Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Against Medically Attended Outpatient Illness, United States, December 2022-April 2023. Influenza Other Respir Viruses 2024, 18, e13342, doi:10.1111/irv.13342.
  22. Chung, J.R.; Price, A.M.; Zimmerman, R.K.; Geffel, K.M.; House, S.L.; Curley, T.; Wernli, K.J.; Phillips, C.H.; Martin, E.T.; Vaughn, I.A.; et al. Influenza vaccine effectiveness against medically attended outpatient illness, United States, 2023-24 season. medRxiv 2024, doi:10.1101/2024.10.29.24316377.
  23. Boughter, C.T.; Chatterjee, B.; Ohta, Y.; Gorga, K.; Blair, C.; Hill, E.M.; Fasana, Z.; Adebamowo, A.; Ammar, F.; Kosik, I.; et al. CountASAP: A Lightweight, Easy to Use Python Package for Processing ASAPseq Data. bioRxiv 2024, doi:10.1101/2024.05.20.595042.

  24. Maqsood R, Smith MF, Holland LA, Sullins RA, Holland SC, Tan M, Hernandez Barrera GM, Thomas AW, Islas M, Kramer JL, Nordstrom L, Mulrow M, White M, Murugan V*, Lim ES*. Influenza Virus Genomic Surveillance, Arizona, USA, 2023–2024. Viruses. 2024;16(5):692. PubMed PMID: doi:10.3390/v16050692.

    *Corresponding authors

  25. Koehler MA, Song L, Grill FJ, Shubitz LF, Powell DA, Galgiani JN, Orbach MJ, Robb EJ, Chung Y, Williams SA, Murugan V, Park J-g, LaBaer J, Lake DF, Magee DM. Discovery of a Unique Set of Dog-Seroreactive Coccidioides Proteins Using Nucleic Acid Programmable Protein Array. Journal of Fungi. 2024;10(5):307. PubMed PMID: doi:10.3390/jof10050307.
  26. Frutos AM, Price AM, Harker E, Reeves EL, Ahmad HM, Murugan V, et al. Interim Estimates of 2023-24 Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness - United States. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2024;73(8):168-74.
  27. Song L, Rauf F, Hou CW, Qiu J, Murugan V, Chung Y, Lai H, Adam D, Magee DM, Trivino Soto G, Peterson M, Anderson KS, Rice SG, Readhead B, Park JG, LaBaer J. Quantitative assessment of multiple pathogen exposure and immune dynamics at scale. Microbiol Spectr. 2023:e0239923. Epub 20231208. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.02399-23. PubMed PMID: 38063388.
  28. Holland, L.A., Holland, S.C., Smith, M.F., Leonard, V.R., Murugan, V., Nordstrom, L., Mulrow, M., Salgado, R., White, M., and Lim, E.S. (2023). Genomic Sequencing Surveillance to Identify Respiratory Syncytial Virus Mutations, Arizona, USA. Emerg Infect Dis 29. 10.3201/eid2911.230836.
  29. Sasser, J., Li, C.B., Doane, L.D., Krasnow, A., Murugan, V., Magee, D.M., and LaBaer, J. (2023). Associations between COVID-19 sleep patterns, depressive symptoms, loneliness, and academic engagement: a latent profile analysis. J Am Coll Health, 1-5. 10.1080/07448481.2023.2239361.
  30. Lee, R.E., Todd, M., Oh, H., Han, S., Santana, M., Aguilar-Troncoso, J., Bruening, M., Kramer, J.L., Leon, T., Murugan, V., et al. (2023). Acceptability and Feasibility of Saliva-delivered PCR Coronavirus 2019 Tests for Young Children. Pediatrics 152. 10.1542/peds.2022-060352D.
  31. Hou, C.W., Williams, S., Taylor, K., Boyle, V., Bobbett, B., Kouvetakis, J., Nguyen, K., McDonald, A., Harris, V., Nussle, B., et al. (2023). Serological survey to estimate SARS-CoV-2 infection and antibody seroprevalence at a large public university: A cross-sectional study. BMJ Open 13, e072627. 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-072627.
  32. Goldman, J.L., Kalu, I.C., Schuster, J.E., Erickson, T., Mast, D.K., Zimmerman, K., Benjamin, D.K., Kalb, L.G., Gurnett, C., Newland, J.G., et al. (2023). Building School-Academic Partnerships to Implement COVID-19 Testing in Underserved Populations. Pediatrics 152. 10.1542/peds.2022-060352C.
  33. Troup, C., Mukhopadhyay, D., Chakrabarty, T., Madan, A., Dwarakanath, S., Murugan, V., and Satyanarayana, S. (2023). Accurate and Rapid Antigen Assay for COVID-19 Diagnostics Using Saliva. Archives of Clinical and Biomedical Research 07, 133-146. 10.26502/acbr.50170326.
  34. Smith, M.F., Holland, S.C., Lee, M.B., Hu, J.C., Pham, N.C., Sullins, R.A., Holland, L.A., Mu, T., Thomas, A.W., Fitch, R., Driver EM, Halden RU, Villegas-Gold M, Sanders S, Krauss JL, Nordstrom L, Mulrow M, White M, Murugan V, Lim ES (2023). Baseline Sequencing Surveillance of Public Clinical Testing, Hospitals, and Community Wastewater Reveals Rapid Emergence of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Variant of Concern in Arizona, USA. mBio, e0310122. 10.1128/mbio.03101-22.
  35. Qiu, J., Engelbrektson, A., Song, L., Park, J., Murugan, V., Williams, S., Chung, Y., Pompa-Mera, E.N., Sandoval-Ramirez, J.L., Mata-Marin, J.A., et al. (2023). Comparative Analysis of Antimicrobial Antibodies between Mild and Severe COVID-19. Microbiol Spectr, e0469022. 10.1128/spectrum.04690-22.
  36. Lal D, Song L, Brar T, Cope EK, Keim P, Williams S, Chung Y, Murugan V, LaBaer J, Magee DM. (2022) Antibody responses to the host microbiome in chronic rhinosinusitis. Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2022. Epub 20221211. doi: 10.1002/alr.23107. PubMed PMID: 36504343.
  37. Shome, M., Gao, W., Engelbrektson, A., Song, L., Williams, S., Murugan, V., Park, J.G., Chung, Y., LaBaer, J., and Qiu, J. (2022a). Comparative microbiomics analysis of anti-microbial antibody response between lung cancer patients and control subjects with benign pulmonary nodules. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 10.1158/1055-9965.Epi-22-0384.
  38. Shome, M., Song, L., Williams, S., Chung, Y., Murugan, V., Park, J.G., Faubion, W., Pasha, S.F., Leighton, J.A., LaBaer, J., and Qiu, J. (2022b). Serological profiling of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis patients reveals anti-microbial antibody signatures. World J Gastroenterol 28, 4089-4101. 10.3748/wjg.v28.i30.4089.
  39. Holland, S.C., Bains, A., Holland, L.A., Smith, M.F., Sullins, R.A., Mellor, N.J., Thomas, A.W., Johnson, N., Murugan, V., and Lim, E.S. (2022). SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant N Gene Mutations Reduce Sensitivity to the TaqPath COVID-19 Multiplex Molecular Diagnostic Assay. Viruses 14. 10.3390/v14061316.
  40. Karger AB, Brien JD, Christen JM, Dhakal S, Kemp TJ, Klein SL, Pinto LA, Premkumar L, Roback JD, Binder RA, Boehme KW, Boppana S, Cordon-Cardo C, Crawford JM, Daiss JL, Dupuis AP, 2nd, Espino AM, Firpo-Betancourt A, Forconi C, Forrest JC, Girardin RC, Granger DA, Granger SW, Haddad NS, Heaney CD, Hunt DT, Kennedy JL, King CL, Krammer F, Kruczynski K, LaBaer J, Lee FE, Lee WT, Liu SL, Lozanski G, Lucas T, Mendu DR, Moormann AM, Murugan V, Okoye NC, Pantoja P, Payne AF, Park J, Pinninti S, Pinto AK, Pisanic N, Qiu J, Sariol CA, Simon V, Song L, Steffen TL, Stone ET, Styer LM, Suthar MS, Thomas SN, Thyagarajan B, Wajnberg A, Yates JL, Sobhani K. The Serological Sciences Network (SeroNet) for COVID-19: Depth and Breadth of Serology Assays and Plans for Assay Harmonization. mSphere. 2022;7(4):e0019322. Epub 20220615. doi: 10.1128/msphere.00193-22. PubMed PMID: 35703544; PMCID: PMC9429934.
  41. Hoffmeyer, M.R., Gillis, K., Park, J.G., Murugan, V., and LaBaer, J. (2021). Making the Case for Absorbed Radiation Response Biodosimetry - Utility of a High-Throughput Biodosimetry System. Radiat Res 196, 535-546.
  42. Pannala, R., Gupta, S., Tinkasimile, A.K., Vorachitti, M., Faigel, D.O., Grys, T.E., LaBaer, J., and Murugan, V. (2020). 95 QUANTITATIVE QPCR-BASED BIOBURDEN TEST FOR THE DETECTION OF CARBAPENEM-RESISTANT ENTEROBACTERIACEAE (CRE): NOVEL TEST FOR SURVEILLANCE AND RISK-STRATIFICATION. Gastrointestinal Endoscopy 91, AB12-AB13
  43. Skidmore, P.T., Kaelin, E.A., Holland, L.A., Maqsood, R., Wu, L.I., Mellor, N.J., Blain, J.M., Harris, V., LaBaer, J., Murugan, V., and Lim, ES. (2021). Genomic Sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 E484K Variant B.1.243.1, Arizona, USA. Emerg Infect Dis 27, 2718-2720.
  44. Sá JM, Kaslow SR, Krause MA, Melendez-Muniz VA, Salzman RE, Kite WA, Zhang M, Moraes Barros RR, Mu J, Han PK, Mershon JP, Figan CE, Caleon RL, Rahman RS, Gibson TJ, Amaratunga C, Nishiguchi EP, Breglio KF, Engels TM, Velmurugan S, Ricklefs S, Straimer J, Gnädig NF, Deng B, Liu A, Diouf A, Miura K, Tullo GS, Eastman RT, Chakravarty S, James ER, Udenze K, Li S, Sturdevant DE, Gwadz RW, Porcella SF, Long CA, Fidock DA, Thomas ML, Fay MP, Sim BKL, Hoffman SL, Adams JH, Fairhurst RM, Su XZ, Wellems TE. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (2018) 115(49); 12513-12518.
  45. Naetar, N*., Velmurugan, S*., Litovchick, L., Goguen, KL., Sablina, A, Bowman-Colin, B., Sicinski, P., Hahn, WC., DeCaprio, J., and Livingston, DL PP2A-Mediated Regulation of Ras Signaling in G2 Is Essential for Stable Quiescence and Normal G1 Length. Mol. Cell (2014) 54; 1-14. *Authors contributed equally to this work.
  46. Seder, R. A., L. J. Chang, M. E. Enama, K. L. Zephir, U. N. Sarwar, I. J. Gordon, L. A. Holman, E. R. James, P. F. Billingsley, A. Gunasekera, A. Richman, S. Chakravarty, A. Manoj, S. Velmurugan, M. Li, A. J. Ruben, T. Li, A. G. Eappen, R. E. Stafford, S. H. Plummer, C. S. Hendel, L. Novik, P. J. Costner, F. H. Mendoza, J. G. Saunders, M. C. Nason, J. H. Richardson, J. Murphy, S. A. Davidson, T. L. Richie, M. Sedegah, A. Sutamihardja, G. A. Fahle, K. E. Lyke, M. B. Laurens, M. Roederer, K. Tewari, J. E. Epstein, B. K. Sim, J. E. Ledgerwood, B. S. Graham, S. L. Hoffman, and V. R. C. Study Team the. "Protection against Malaria by Intravenous Immunization with a Nonreplicating Sporozoite Vaccine." Science, (2013) 341(6152):1359-65.
  47. March, S., S. Ng, S. Velmurugan, A. Galstian, J. Shan, D. J. Logan, A. E. Carpenter, D. Thomas, B. K. Sim, M. M. Mota, S. L. Hoffman, and S. N. Bhatia. "A Microscale Human Liver Platform That Supports the Hepatic Stages of Plasmodium Falciparum and Vivax." Cell Host Microbe 14, no. 1 (2013): 104-15.
  48. Roestenberg, M., E. M. Bijker, B. K. Sim, P. F. Billingsley, E. R. James, G. J. Bastiaens, A. C. Teirlinck, A. Scholzen, K. Teelen, T. Arens, A. J. van der Ven, A. Gunasekera, S. Chakravarty, S. Velmurugan, C. C. Hermsen, R. W. Sauerwein, and S. L. Hoffman. "Controlled Human Malaria Infections by Intradermal Injection of Cryopreserved Plasmodium Falciparum Sporozoites." Am J Trop Med Hyg 88, no. 1 (2013): 5-13.
  49. Fine, D.A., Rosen, R., Padi, M., Korkhin. A., James, R.L., Adelmant, G., Yoon, R., Guo, L., Berrios, C., Zhang, Y., Calderwood, M.A., Velmurugan, S., Cheng, J., Marto, J.A., Hill, D.E., Cusick, M.E., Vidal, M., Florens, L., Washburn, M.P., Litovchick, L., and DeCaprio. J.A. (2012) Identification of FAM111A as an SV40 host range restriction factor. PLoS Pathog 8(10): e1002949. doi:10.1371/ journal. ppat.1002949
  50. Hoffman, S.A., Aravind, L and Velmurugan, S. (2012). Female Anopheles gambiae antennae: increased transcript accumulation of the mosquito-specific odorant-binding-protein OBP2. Parasites and Vectors 5:27 (doi:10.1186/1756-3305-5-27)
  51. Epstein, J.E., Tewari, K., Lyke, K.E., Sim, B.K.L., Billingsley, P.F., Laurens, M.B., Gunasekera, A., Chakravarty, S., James, E.R., Sedegah, M., Richman, A., Velmurugan, S., Reyes, S., Li, M., Tucker, K., Ahumada, A., Ruben, A.J., Li, T., Stafford, R., Eappen, A.G., Tamminga, C., Bennett, J.W., Ockenhouse, C.F., Murphy, J.R., Komisar, J., Thomas, N., Loyevsky, M., Birkett, A., Plowe, C.V., Loucq, C., Edelman, R., Richie, T.L., Seder, R.A., Hoffman, S.L. (2011) Live Attenuated Malaria Vaccine Designed to Protect through Hepatic CD8+ T Cell Immunity. Science (2011) 334(6055):475-80(DOI: 10.1126/science.1211548)
  52. Chattopadhyay,R., Velmurugan, S., Chakiath, C., Andrews Donkor, L., Milhous, W., Barnwell, J.W., Collins, W.E., and Hoffman, S.L (2010) Establishment of an In Vitro Assay for Assessing the Effects of Drugs on the Liver Stages of Plasmodium vivax malaria. PloSONE 5: e14275
  53. Tewari, K., Flynn, B.J., Boscardin, S.B, Kastenmueller, K., Salazar, A.M., Anderson, C.A., Velmurugan, S., Ahumada, A., Keler, T., Hoffman, S.L., Nussenzweig, M.C., Steinman, R.M., and Seder, R.A. (2010) Poly(I:C) is an effective adjuvant for antibody and multi-functional CD4+ T cell responses to Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein (CSP) and αDEC-CSP in non-human primates. Vaccine 45: 7256-7266
  54. Litovchick, L., Sadasivam, S., Florens, L., Zhu, X., Swanson, S.K., Velmurugan, S., Washburn, M.K., Liu, X.S. and DeCaprio J.A. (2007) Evolutionally conserved multi-subunit RBL2/p130 and E2F4 protein complex represses human cell cycle-dependent genes in quiescence. Mol. Cell. 26: 539-551.
  55. Silver, D.P., Dimitrov, S., Feunteun, J., Gelman, R., Mar, J., Drapkin, R., Lu, D., Shestakova, E., Velmurugan, S., DeNunzio, N., Dragomir, S., Liu, X., Rottenberg , S., Jonkers, J., Ganesan, S and Livingston, D.M. (2007) Further Evidence for BRCA1 Communication with the Inactive X Chromosome. Cell 128: 991-1002
  56. Dobson, M.J., Pickett, A.J., Velmurugan, S., Pinder, J.B., Barrett, L.A., Jayaram, M and Chew, J.S. (2005) The 2-micron plasmid causes cell death in Saccharomyces cerevisiae with a mutation in Ulp1 protease. Mol. Cell. Biol. 25: 4299-4310.
  57. Mehta, S., Yang, X., Jayaram, M., and Velmurugan. S. (2005) A novel role for the mitotic spindle during DNA segregation in yeast: promoting 2-micron plasmid-cohesin association. Mol. Cell. Biol. 25: 4283-4298.
  58. Yang, X., Mehta, S., Uzri, D., Jayaram, M., and Velmurugan, S. (2004) Mutations in a partitioning protein and altered chromatin structure at the partitioning locus prevent cohesin recruitment by the yeast plasmid and cause its missegregation. Mol. Cell. Biol. 24: 5290-5303.
  59. Mehta, S., Yang, X., Chan, C. S. M., Dobson, M. M., Jayaram, M., and Velmurugan. S. (2002). Coupling between 2-micron plasmid partitioning and chromosome segregation in yeast: the plasmid stability system purloins the yeast cohesin complex? J. Cell Biol. 158, 625-637.
  60. Kang J. S., Cheeseman, I. M., Kallstrom, G., Velmurugan, S., Barnes, G., and Chan, C. S. (2001). Functional cooperation of Dam1, Ipl1, and the inner centromere protein (INCENP)-related protein Sli15 during chromosome segregation. J. Cell Biol. 155, 763-774.
  61. Lisby, M., Olesen, J. R., Skouboe, C., Krogh, B. O., Straub, T., Boege, F., Velmurugan, S., Martensen, P. M., Andersen, A. H., Jayaram, M., and Knudsen, B. R. (2001). Residues within the N-terminal domain of human topoisomerase I play a direct role in relaxation. J. Biol. Chem. 276, 20220-20227.
  62. Velmurugan, S., Yang, X. M., Chan, C. S., Dobson, M., and Jayaram, M. (2000). Partitioning of the 2-micron circle plasmid of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Functional coordination with chromosome segregation and plasmid-encoded rep protein distribution. J. Cell Biol. 149, 553-566.
  63. Velmurugan, S., Ahn, Y. T., Yang, X. M., Wu, X. L., and Jayaram, M. (1998). The 2-micron plasmid stability system: analyses of the interactions among plasmid- and host-encoded components. Mol. Cell Biol. 18, 7466-7477.
  64. Mehta, S., Velmurugan, S., and Lobo, Z. (1998). Repression of enzymes of the pentose phosphate pathway by glucose in fission yeast. FEBS Lett. 440, 430-433.
  65. Mehta, S. V., Patil, V. B., Velmurugan, S., Lobo, Z., and Maitra, P. K. (1998). Std1, a gene involved in glucose transport in Schizosaccharomyces pombe. J. Bacteriol. 180, 674-679.
  66. Velmurugan, S., Lobo, Z., and Maitra, P. K. (1997). Suppression of pdc2 regulating pyruvate decarboxylase synthesis in yeast. Genetics 145, 587-594.
  67. Ahn, Y. T., Wu, X. L., Biswal, S., Velmurugan, S., Volkert, F. C., and Jayaram, M. (1997). The 2 µm-plasmid-encoded Rep1 and Rep2 proteins interact with each other and colocalize to the Saccharomyces cerevisiae nucleus. J. Bacteriol. 179, 7497-7506.
  68. Gunasekaran, P., Mukundan, G., Kannan, T. R., Velmurugan, S., Ait-Abdelkader, N., and Baratti, J. (1995). The SacB and SacC genes encoding levansucrase and sucrase form a gene cluster in Zymomonas mobilis. Biotechnol. letters 17, 635-642

Review Articles

  1. Jayaram, M., Mehta, S., Uzri, D., Voziyanov, Y., and Velmurugan, S. (2004). Site-specific Recombination and Partitioning Systems in the Stable High Copy Propagation of the 2 Micron Yeast Plasmid. In Prog. Nucleic Acid Res. Mol. Biol. 77: 127-172
  2. Jayaram, M., Mehta, S., Uzri, D., and S. Velmurugan. (2004) Segregation of the Yeast Plasmid: Similarities and Contrasts with Bacterial Plasmid Partitioning. Plasmid. 51: 162-178.
  3. Velmurugan, S., Mehta, S., and Jayaram, M. (2003). Selfishness in moderation: evolutionary success of the yeast plasmid. Curr. Topics Dev. Biol. 56, 1-24.
  4. Jayaram, M., Mehta, S., Uzri, D., and S. Velmurugan. (2003) Stable propagation of 'selfish' genetic elements. J. Biosci. 5, 623-636.
  5. Mehta, S., Jayaram, M and Velmurugan, S. (2003). Yeast plasmids: models for the evolutionary persistence of selfish extrachromosomal elements. In Recent Research Developments in Molecular and Cellular Biology 4, 249-271.

 Book Chapters

  1. Jayaram, M., Yang, X., Mehta, S., Voziyanov, Y., and Velmurugan, S. (2004). The 2-micron plasmid of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In Plasmid Biology. Eds Funnell, B. E., and Philips, G. J., ASM Press, Washington DC.
Courses
2026 Fall
Course Number Course Title
BIO 492 Honors Directed Study
BIO 495 Undergraduate Research
2026 Summer
Course Number Course Title
MBB 495 Undergraduate Research
2026 Spring
Course Number Course Title
BIO 493 Honors Thesis
MBB 495 Undergraduate Research
BIO 495 Undergraduate Research
2025 Fall
Course Number Course Title
BIO 492 Honors Directed Study
BIO 495 Undergraduate Research
2025 Summer
Course Number Course Title
MBB 495 Undergraduate Research
2025 Spring
Course Number Course Title
BIO 493 Honors Thesis
MBB 495 Undergraduate Research
BIO 495 Undergraduate Research
2024 Fall
Course Number Course Title
BIO 492 Honors Directed Study
BIO 495 Undergraduate Research
BMI 590 Reading and Conference
2024 Spring
Course Number Course Title
BIO 495 Undergraduate Research
2023 Fall
Course Number Course Title
BIO 495 Undergraduate Research
2023 Spring
Course Number Course Title
BIO 495 Undergraduate Research
2022 Fall
Course Number Course Title
BIO 495 Undergraduate Research
2022 Spring
Course Number Course Title
BIO 495 Undergraduate Research
2021 Fall
Course Number Course Title
BIO 495 Undergraduate Research
Editorships

Editor for the Journal "DNA"

Editorial Board of Virology (In Frontiers in Microbiology and Frontiers in Plant Science)

Professional Associations
  1. Society for social work and research: 2022 - Present
  2. Radiation Research Society (RADRES): 2015 - present
  3. The Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute: 2013 - present
Graduate Faculties / Mentoring History

Graduate Students (MS 4+1)

  1. Ella Schmidt, School of Molecular Sciences, May 2027 (Expected)
  2. Tanner Soderblom, School of Molecular Sciences, May 2025
  3. Amani Tinkasimile, School of Molecular Sciences, May 2019
  4. Colleen Roberts, School of Molecular Sciences, Dec 2017

Graduate Students (PhD)

  1. Deepta Paramasamy (co-chairing with Dr. LaBaer); Aug 2025 - now
  2. Guillermo Sebastian Trivino Soto (co-chairing with Dr. LaBaer); Aug 2023 - now
  3. Nivethitha Ramasamy (co-chairing with Dr. LaBaer); Aug 2023 – now
  4. Inam Ridha; Graduated July 2022 (co-chaired with Dr. LaBaer); Dissertation Title: Development and Implementation of an Automated Multiplexed Method to Study Genome-Wide DNA Methylation

Postdoctoral fellows/Research Scientist:

  1. Dr. Madhuranga Thilakasiri: May 2021 – June 2025
  2. Dr. Neda Javadi; June 2022 – Dec 2023
  3. Dr. Erandi Kapuruge; April 2022 – Apr 2023
  4. Dr. Neelam Choudhary; June 2019 - July 2020

Research Scientists:

  1. Dr. Steven Holland; May 2024 - Current
  2. Dr. Ching-Wen Hou; Jan 2021 – Current
  3. Dr. Kristina Gonzales-Wartz; Nov 2021 – June 2024
Work History
  • 01/2026-Present           Director of Clinical Dx and Laboratory Operations, Health Observatory, ASU
  • 08/2024-Present           Research Professor and Director of Clinical Research, Biodesign Institute, ASU
  • 07/2024-12/2025           Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Program and Technical Director, ASU Biodesign Clinical Testing Laboratory (ABCTL)
  • 03/2020-07/2024           Program and Technical Director, ABCTL
  • 09/2019-08/2024           Associate Research Professor, Biodesign Institute, ASU
  • 08/2017-09/2019           Research Scientist, Biodesign Institute, ASU
  • 01/2013-08/2017           Principal Scientist, Biodesign Institute, ASU
  • 10/2012-12/2012           Visiting Scientist, NIH-NCATS, Rockville, MD
  • 11/2011-12/2012           Director of Hepatocyte Assays, Transcriptomics, and Drug Studies, Sanaria Inc, Rockville, MD
  • 10/2008-11/2011           Senior Scientist, Director, Sanaria Inc, Rockville, MD
  • 10/2004-09/2008           Fellow, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School
  • 05/1997-09/2004           Post-Doc Fellow, Research Scientist, University of Texas at Austin
Service

Fulbright Specialist:

Appointed as Fulbright Specialist Member 04/07/2023 to 04/07/2026. As a candidate on the Fulbright Specialist Roster, eligible to be matched with projects designed by host institutions in over 150 countries globally and work on the projects.

Community Service:

  1. 2016 - International Science and Engineering Fair, Grand award Judge co-chair. Phoenix, AZ
  2. 2019 - International Science and Engineering Fair, Grand award Judge co-chair. Phoenix, AZ
  3. 2021 - International Science and Engineering Fair, Grand award Judge co-chair. Virtual
  4. 2022 - International Science and Engineering Fair, Grand award Judge co-chair. Atlanta, GA
  5. 2023 - International Science and Engineering Fair, Grand award Judge co-chair. Dallas, Tx
  6. 2023 – Career Day presentation at the highland Junior High, Mesa, AZ
  7. 2026 - International Science and Engineering Fair, Grand award Judge co-chair. Phoenix, AZ
Consulting

INanoBio Inc

Premier Lab Solutions

SAFE HEALTH SYSTEMS, INC

AVIANA MOLECULAR TECHNOLOGIES, LLC

HealthCheck, Inc

Board

ARIVU LLC, founder and Managing Director

Industry Positions
  • 10/2012-12/2012           Visiting Scientist, NIH-NCATS, Rockville, MD
  • 10/2008-12/2012           Senior Scientist and Director, Sanaria Inc, Rockville, MD
Expertise Areas
Biochemistry
Bioethics and Science Policy
Biomarker Discovery for Personalized Diagnosis
Biosensors, Point-of-care Technologies and Sensing Systems
Biotechnology
Cancer
Cell biology
Clinical Trials
Diagnostics
Disease and Diagnostics
Genomics
Innovating Point-of-care Diagnostics
Molecular Biology
Product Development
Maps and Locations Jobs Directory Contact ASU My ASU
Repeatedly ranked #1 on 30+ lists in the last 3 years
Copyright and Trademark Accessibility Privacy Terms of Use Emergency