Prithvi Raj

Prithvi Raj is a Research Professor in the Department of Immunology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, where he joined the faculty in September 2018. He serves as the Founder Director of the Microbiome Research Laboratory (MRL), which provides advanced microbial sequencing services to researchers studying microbiome-related phenomena. His work focuses on pediatric bloodstream infections, microbial genomics, and understanding the genetic basis of diseases like systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and tuberculosis (TB).

Dr. Raj holds a Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India, and completed postdoctoral training at UT Southwestern under the mentorship of Dr. Eric Wakeland. His research integrates genetic epidemiology, immunogenomics, and microbiome analysis to address complex disease mechanisms. Notable contributions include identifying noncoding genetic polymorphisms in the VDR gene associated with TB and discovering regulatory variants at the HLA locus linked to SLE susceptibility.

His lab actively investigates microbial communities' roles in health and disease, including how microbiota influence circadian rhythms and innate immunity. Current projects emphasize rapid pathogen detection in blood circulation and leveraging microbiome data to improve diagnostic confidence in pediatric infections. Despite no explicitly listed awards, his work has been published in high-impact journals like Science and Cell.

Dr. Raj collaborates across disciplines, providing sequencing-based assays for translational and basic researchers. His lab’s efforts contribute to understanding host-microbe interactions in both infectious and autoimmune contexts.