Vel Murugan

Dr. Vel Murugan is a Research Associate Professor and Director of Clinical Research at the Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University. He holds affiliations with the College of Health Solutions and the Virginia G. Piper Center for Personalized Diagnostics. His academic journey began with a PhD from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, followed by postdoctoral work at The University of Texas at Austin and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and a Fulbright Specialist fellowship (2023-2026).

• Education:
  • B.Sc. & M.Sc. - Madurai Kamaraj University
  • Ph.D. - Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
  • Postdoc - University of Texas at Austin
  • Fellowship - Harvard Medical School
  • MBA - Northeastern University

Dr. Murugan is a leading figure in epigenetic biomarker development and Clinical Testing Laboratory operations, with >45 publications in domains spanning vaccine research, cancer biology, microbiome interactions, and point-of-care diagnostics. His 15 recent articles demonstrate expertise in SARS-CoV-2 variant surveillance, neutralizing antibody quantification, and epidemiological modeling across multiple public health contexts.

Key scientific contributions include:

• Development of high-throughput radiation biodosimeters
• Creation of saliva-based diagnostic platforms
• Identification of epigenetic markers for environmental exposures
• Leadership in multi-institutional vaccine effectiveness studies

As mentor, he has trained >30 undergraduate students, and directly supervised 5 graduate students (including 2 PhD candidates) in areas related to molecular diagnostics and public health interventions. His 17+ grants include projects funded by NIH, DARPA, and CDC, focusing on cancer screening, immune memory assessment, and health disparities reduction.

Dr. Murugan actively contributes to:

• Professional service - International Science and Engineering Fair judge (5 terms)
• Community engagement - Career Day presenter, Highland Junior High
• Industry collaboration - INanoBio, Premier Lab Solutions, and Aviana Molecular Technologies