Kartik Rajagopalan

Kartik Rajagopalan, M.D., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Internal Medicine, UT Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW), with a secondary appointment at the Children's Medical Center Research Institute. He directs the Rajagopalan Lab, focusing on energy regulation during infection, integrating metabolism, immune function, and neurobiology. He practices as an intensivist in pulmonary and critical-care medicine.

• Education: Perot Family Scholars Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at UTSW (MD/PhD in Cancer Biology), Bachelor's in Philosophy from University of Texas at Austin (magna cum laude)

Research interests include:

• Leptin signaling in infection and its impact on sympathetic nervous system activity
• Adipose tissue metabolism during infections (e.g., lipolysis, fatty acid utilization)
• Systems-level energy regulation integrating neurobiology and immunometabolism

Collaborations: Works with the Patel Lab at UTSW to investigate metabolic pathways during infection.