Priyanka Baloni

Priyanka Baloni serves as an Assistant Professor in Purdue University's School of Health Sciences and is a member of the Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience. Her research leverages computational systems biology to investigate metabolic dysregulation in neurodegenerative diseases, cancer, and aging through multi-omics integration.

Education:

• PhD, Indian Institute of Science, 2017

Research Focus: Dr. Baloni specializes in identifying metabolic signatures across neurodegenerative conditions (particularly Alzheimer's disease), preterm birth, and infectious diseases using genome-scale metabolic modeling and network analysis. Her lab develops computational frameworks for multi-omics data (genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics) to study gene-environment interactions, with emphasis on neurotoxic exposures like PFAS. Key contributions include human brain region-specific metabolic networks and identification of bile acids/sphingolipids as Alzheimer's therapeutic targets through NIH AMP-AD collaborations.

Publication Trends: Recent work (2023-2025) reveals consistent focus on Alzheimer's mechanisms (APOE interactions, mitochondrial dysfunction), environmental toxicology (PFAS impacts on lipid metabolism), and multi-omics analysis of aging/preterm birth. Her publications frequently emerge from large consortia, demonstrating translational applications of systems biology for biomarker discovery and therapeutic targeting.

Scientific Recognition:

• Laxmi Baxi Award, Society for Reproductive Investigation (2020)
• CSIR Senior Research Fellowship (2012-2015)
• UGC Post-Graduate Merit Scholarship (2007-2009)

Research Leadership: As Co-Investigator on four NIH grants—including projects on placental development (NICHD R01 HD091527), Alzheimer's target prioritization (NIA U01AG061359), sex differences in AD (NIA RF1AG059093), and microbiome modeling (NIDDK 1R01DK133468)—she directs computational efforts across multi-institutional teams. She actively mentors undergraduate and graduate students in computational toxicology and systems biomedicine.

Collaborative Infrastructure: The Baloni Lab develops open-source tools for metabolic network analysis while contributing to Purdue's emerging computational toxicology program. Her work integrates with the Institute for Systems Biology and NIH consortia to address complex health challenges through interdisciplinary data science approaches.