Malavika Raman

Malavika Raman is an Associate Professor in the Department of Developmental, Molecular and Chemical Biology at Tufts University School of Medicine. Her research focuses on mechanisms maintaining cellular protein homeostasis, particularly the role of the VCP AAA-ATPase in ubiquitin-mediated substrate degradation. She investigates VCP's functions in ER-associated degradation, autophagy, DNA damage responses, and neurodegenerative disorders linked to VCP mutations. Her work bridges basic molecular mechanisms with clinical implications in cancer and neurodegeneration.

• Education: Ph.D., University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (2006); M.Sc., Birla Institute of Technology and Science, India (2000)

Research Interests:

• VCP-ubiquitin adaptor networks
• Proteostasis dysfunction in disease
• ER stress and UPR regulation
• Aggresome formation and protein aggregation

Recent work highlights multi-adaptor recruitment of VCP to stress granules, peroxisome abundance regulation via UBXD8, and ALS-linked p97 mutations disrupting lysophagy. Her NIH-funded studies explore VCP's role in protein quality control across cellular compartments.

Grants: Active funding includes NIH grants (2018-2023) and American Cancer Society awards targeting VCP's role in multiple myeloma.

Teaching: Leads graduate courses in Cell Biology, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology at Tufts SOM. Supervises laboratory rotations and seminar discussions.

Professional Activities: Serves on committees for the American Society for Cell Biology, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and Tufts' Building Diversity in Biomedical Science initiative.