Supraja Varadarajan

Dr. Supraja Varadarajan is an Assistant Professor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, affiliated with the Department of Neuroscience, Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute, and Department of Ophthalmology. She completed her PhD at UCLA studying axon growth mechanisms and postdoctoral research at Stanford University focusing on visual circuit regeneration. Her research investigates postsynaptic neuron roles in neural circuit repair, with specific emphasis on restoring vision impaired by injury or diseases like glaucoma. Current projects explore activity-induced repair mechanisms, neuron-glia interactions, and degeneration prevention in glaucoma.

Education: B.E. in Biotechnology from Visvesvaraya Technological University; PhD in Neuroscience from UCLA. Graduate program affiliations include Genetics, Development and Disease, and Neuroscience.

Research interests center on rebuilding damaged neural circuits using mouse visual system models. Key themes include retinal ganglion cell axon regeneration, synaptic plasticity, and translational therapies for neurodegenerative diseases. The Varadarajan Lab emphasizes interdisciplinary collaboration across basic science and clinical domains.

Lab values prioritize a collaborative, inclusive environment fostering scientific innovation. They actively seek to integrate computational, engineering, and clinical perspectives for holistic CNS repair strategies.