Murali Temburni

Murali Temburni, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at Delaware State University (DSU), part of the College of Agriculture, Science and Technology (CAST). He holds a PhD in Life Sciences from Jawaharlal Nehru University, India, an M.S. in Biochemistry from G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, and a B.S. in Microbiology from Osmania University.

His research focuses on astrocyte-neuron interactions in developmental neuronal synchrony and epilepsy. Key projects include investigating astrocytes' role in synchronizing neuronal activity and exploring the effects of endocrine disruptors on neural networks using multi-electrode arrays. He has secured significant grants, including a $753,000 NSF award (2018-2021) for studying astrocyte-neuron molecular mechanisms, a NIH R25 grant (2015-2020) for an HBCU neuroscience program, and multiple HBCU-UP and COBRE grants.

Dr. Temburni teaches courses such as Neuroanatomy (BIOL 650), Neurochemistry (BIOL 610), and Human Heredity (BIOL 622). His lab's work bridges developmental neurobiology and clinical relevance, with studies published in Clinical & Experimental Metastasis, ACS Chemical Biology, and Cancer Cell International. He received DSU’s 2017 Faculty Excellence Award for Teaching and CMNST Teaching Excellence Award.

• Grants: PI roles in NSF, NIH, and HBCU-UP grants totaling over $1.5 million
• Labs/Teams: Active astrocyte research lab collaborating with Georgetown University and other institutions