Dr. Madhusudhanan Balasubramanian
Dr. Madhusudhanan Balasubramanian
Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Professor of Biomedical Engineering
ES 208D Electrical & Computer Engineering
mblsbrmn@memphis.edu
(901)-678-1199
Computational Ocularscience Laboratory
Research Interests
Dr. Balasubramanian’s research interests are broadly in 1) studying the structure
of the optic nerve head, its vascular hemodynamics and retinal function (electrophysiology)
in normal eyes and eyes with progression of glaucoma, and 2) multiphysical modeling
as well as experimental validation of ocular therapeutics. Dr. Balasubramanian’s lab,
the Computational Ocularscience Laboratory, has necessary resources and comprehensive expertise in research methodologies (such
as optical imaging, electrophysiology, experimental glaucoma models, organ culture
methods, computational methods such as finite element analysis and deep learning methods)
to conduct multidisciplinary ocular research investigations.
Education
- Diploma in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Muthiah Polytechnic, India (1992 – 1995)
- Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronics Engineering, PSG College of Technology, India (1995 – 1998)
- MS in Systems Science, Louisiana State University (LSU) and LSU Health Sciences Center (2001 – 2003)
- PhD in Computer Science (minor in Mathematics), LSU and LSU Health Sciences Center (2001 – 2006)
- Post-doctoral Fellowship in Glaucoma Research, University of California San Diego
(2006 – 2011)
Brief Research Summary
The current principal aim of Dr. Balasubramanian’s research work is to understand and characterize the dynamics and evolution of functional changes in the retina, and structural changes in the optic nerve head of the eye in glaucoma. Some of the ongoing projects in Dr. Balasubramanian’s laboratory at The University of Memphis are:
- Organ perfusion culture models for preserving and extending the structural and functional Integrity of ex vivo eyes
- Non-invasive measurement of deformation and dynamics of structural changes in the optic nerve head from optical images of the retina
- Ocular material models and optic nerve head elastography
- Structural and functional biomarkers of glaucoma progression
- Computational modeling of aqueous humor dynamics
- Ocular drug delivery (pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and experimental models)
Dr. Balasubramanian has demonstrated multidisciplinary research training, experience and interests in glaucoma, experimental models of ocular diseases, bioengineering, computational methods, optical imaging, and electroretinography with a specific focus on understanding the mechanisms of vision loss in glaucoma. His doctoral dissertation specifically advanced confocal imaging technology to track microscopic deformation in 3-D for characterizing structural deformation of lamina cribrosa of the optical nerve head in experimental glaucoma studies. His postdoctoral research focused on developing structural and functional biomarkers of glaucoma progression for diagnosis and management of glaucoma in clinics.
In his laboratory from 2013 onward, Dr. Balasubramanian’s research group has developed:
- Computational models and experimental methods for studying optic nerve head dynamics non-invasively;
- Organ culture models for longitudinal measurement of structural and functional measurements in ex vivo eyes; and
- Novel nanoparticle-mediated selective treatment strategy for diseases of the inner retina including retinoblastoma using laser.
Publications
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=6gHUvyQAAAAJ&hl=en
Honors and Awards
- 2011: Recipient of a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the National Eye Institute (NEI), National Institutes of Health (NIH)
- 2010: IPS-Heidelberg Young Researchers Award for innovative work entitled, “Relationship between Retinal Structure and Function over Time”
- Postdoctoral research fellowship, Heidelberg Engineering, GmbH, Heidelberg, Germany
- 1998: PSG College of Technology Alumni Award for the best Bachelor of Engineering project entitled, “Distributed SCADA System/Ethernet Interface”.
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