Periannan Kuppusamy

Research Description:

Research Interests:

Dr. Kuppusamy received his doctoral (Ph.D.) degree in 1986 with specialization in EPR spectroscopy from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India. Following a Fogarty Fellowship from NIH, Dr. Kuppusamy joined the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1987 as a Research Fellow in the Division of Cardiology and moved to the rank of Associate Professor in 2001. In July 2002 he moved to the Ohio State University, where he is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine. He also serves as the Director of the Biomedical EPR Spectroscopy & Imaging Facility in the HLRI.

Dr. Kuppusamy is uniquely talented with biophysical and mathematical concepts, computer software interfacing and programming expertise related to biomedical magnetic resonance spectroscopy and imaging. He has made significant contributions to the development of low-frequency electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy and imaging methods for detecting free radicals (paramagnetic molecules possessing unpaired electrons) in biological systems. With Dr. Jay L. Zweier, he has developed a variety of in vivo EPR spectroscopic and imaging techniques enabling noninvasive measurements of free radicals and oxygen in intact biological tissues, isolated organs, and small animals. This development will have major influence in the study of free radical-mediated pathophysiology and pave the way for functional EPR imaging of living systems, including humans.

The development of magnetic resonance techniques to image physiologically pertinent (functional) parameters such as oxygenation and energy metabolism in myocardium or tumor tissue is an important part of his commitment at the EPR Facility.