Srinivas Somarowthu

Srinivas Somarowthu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at Drexel University College of Medicine. He serves as Director of the Biochemistry of Health and Disease graduate program, leading interdisciplinary research that combines biochemistry, molecular biology, and computational biology to study RNA mechanisms in cellular pathways.

• Postdoctoral Fellowship – Yale University (2016)
• PhD – Northeastern University (2011)
• MS – Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (2007)
• BS – Andhra Loyola College (2005)

His research focuses on long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) and viral non-coding RNAs, particularly their roles in gene regulation, disease mechanisms, and RNA-protein interactions. His lab develops computational tools for modeling large RNA (>200 nts) structures, addressing limitations in experimental RNA structure determination.

Recent publications highlight his group's work on structural characterization of lncRNAs like HOTAIR and lncTCF7, RNA modeling pipelines, and viral RNA-host protein interactions. Notably, his lab received a 2023 CURE Program grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for hepatitis B virus research.

• Scientific Awards
  • Commonwealth Universal Research Enhancement (CURE) Program Grant Recipient (2023)

His laboratory provides critical resources for RNA structural analysis through webservers and plugins, while collaborating with investigators like Michael J. Bouchard and Joris Beld on liver cancer studies involving Fam99 gene family regulation.