Meenakshi Rao

Meenakshi Rao, MD, PhD

Attending Physician, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition, Boston Children’s Hospital; Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School.

Research Focus

Enteric neurobiology in health and disease.

Brief Research Description

The digestive tract has its own intrinsic nervous system that regulates a wide variety of digestive, immune and metabolic functions. This enteric nervous system (ENS) is a large and remarkably understudied component of the gut-brain axis. The overarching goal of my lab is to determine how the neurons and glial cells of the ENS detect andintegrate information to modulate autonomic behaviors including gastrointestinal motility, intestinal epithelial functions, innate immune responses, and nutrient handling. We are driven by the conviction that learning how enteric circuits function in homeostasis will reveal how ENS dysfunction contributes to human disease.

Key Publications (PMCIDs)

Enteric glia regulate gastrointestinal motility but are not required for maintenance of the epithelium in mice.
Rao M, Rastelli D, Dong L, Chiu S, Setlik W, Gershon MD, Corfas G.
Gastroenterology. 2017; 153:1068-1081

Development of the enteric nervous system: What could possibly go wrong?
Rao M, Gershon, MD.
Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 2018;19:552-565

Advances in Enteric Neurobiology: The "Brain" in the Gut in Health and Disease.
Kulkarni S, Ganz J, Bayrer J, Becker L, Bogunovic M, Rao M.
Journal of Neuroscience. 2018; 38:9346-9354

Gut-innervating nociceptor neurons regulate Peyer’s patch Microfold cells and SFB levels to mediate Salmonella host defense.
Lai NY, Musser MA, Pinho-Ribeiro FA, Baral P, Jacobson A, Ma P, Potts DE, Chen Z,Paik D, Soualhi S, Shi H, Yan Y, Misra A, Goldstein K, Lagomarsino V, Nordstrom A,Sivanathan KN, Wallrapp A, Kuchroo VK, Nowarski R, Starnbach MN, Surana NK, Benoist C, An D, Wu C, Huh JR, Rao M, Chiu IM.
Cell. 2020; 180 (1): 33-49

< BACK TO DIRECTORY