Parashurama Natesh

Dr. Parashurama Natesh is a Volunteer Assistant Professor of Research in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University at Buffalo, with an affiliate appointment in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. He holds a dual MD-PhD and leads a 13-member lab focusing on merging regenerative medicine and molecular imaging to address hepatobiliary and pancreatic diseases. His work spans liver stem cell engineering, organogenesis modeling, and non-invasive imaging technologies.

Education:

• PhD, Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers University (2008)
• MD, University at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine (1999)
• BS, Chemical Engineering, MIT (1994)

Research Interests:
His lab engineers liver and pancreatic organoids from stem cells, investigates endoderm differentiation pathways, and develops molecular imaging tools (e.g., PET/MRI) to monitor stem cell therapies. Key areas include:
- 3D liver tissue engineering using hydrogels
- FOXA1/2 gene regulation in hepatocyte maturation
- TGFβ pathway control of collective cell migration
- Clinical translation of imaging-guided regenerative medicine

Article Trends:
Publications emphasize liver and pancreatic organogenesis, stem cell differentiation dynamics, and multi-modal imaging strategies. Recent work highlights FOXA transcription factor roles, TGFβ signaling in morphogenesis, and in vitro models of liver diverticulum formation.

Awards:

• NIH Training Grants (Biotechnology, Surgery, Radiology)
• CIRM Postdoctoral Fellowship

Lab & Grants:
Current projects include CTRC-affiliated translational research and collaborations with UCSF on human stem cell development. Lab includes 3 PhD, 3 Masters, and 7 undergraduate researchers.

Labs/Teams:
His lab integrates engineering principles with molecular biology, collaborating on projects like synthetic liver organoids and imaging probes for stem cell tracking.