Janani Ravi, PhD

Assistant Professor, Biomedical Informatics


FacultyPhoto
Graduate School
  • PhD, Virginia Polytechnic Institute And State University (Virginia Tech) (2011)
Undergraduate School
  • BS, Anna University (Industrial Biotechnology) Chennai, India (2006)
Internship
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH) (2017)
Languages
English, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu
Department
Biomedical Informatics

Professional Titles

  • Assistant Professor

Recognitions

  • All-University Excellence in Diversity Award, Michigan State University (2020)
    for work as the founder and co-organizer of R-Ladies East Lansing

Research Interests

We develop general-purpose computational approaches that integrate large-scale heterogeneous public datasets that lead to the mechanistic understanding of microbial genotypes, phenotypes, and diseases. Specifically, we focus on two key questions: - How do we link microbial genotypes to phenotypic traits? We use a combination of protein sequence-structure-function relationships, comparative genomics, and machine learning to bridge the genotype-phenotype gap (e.g., phenotypes, antimicrobial resistance, host-specificity, microbial pathogenesis). - How do we delineate molecular mechanisms underlying host response to infection and discover host-directed therapeutics? We use comparative transcriptomics, disease-drug signatures, and machine learning to learn about host response and drug repurposing. Our methods are generally pathogen- and disease-agnostic. We also release open data/software and easy-to-use web applications for wide use by the biomedical community. I am also actively engaged in training, education, and outreach, and committed to creating and sustaining a diverse and inclusive ecosystem in data science and R for learners and professionals alike, focusing on increasing the participation of underrepresented minorities in data science and R programming. Towards this effort, I founded R-Ladies East Lansing and R-Ladies Aurora, and co-founded Women+ Data Science and AsiaR. I also co-chair the R/Bioconductor Community Advisory Board.

Publications

  • Ravi J, Samart K, Zwolak J. Modeling the START transition in the budding yeast cell cycle. PLoS Comput Biol. 2024 Aug;20(8):e1012048. PubMed PMID: 39093881
  • Ravi J, Anantharaman V, Chen SZ, Brenner EP, Datta P, Aravind L, Gennaro ML. The phage shock protein (PSP) envelope stress response: discovery of novel partners and evolutionary history. mSystems. 2024 Jun 18;9(6):e0084723. PubMed PMID: 38809013
  • Cantoria MJ^, Alizadeh E^, Ravi J, Varghese RP, Bunnag N, Pond KW, Kettenbach AN, Ahmed Y, Paek AL, Tyson JJ, Doubrovinski K, Lee E, Thorne CA. Feedback in the ß-catenin destruction complex imparts bistability and cellular memory. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023 Jan 10;120(2):e2208787120. PubMed PMID: 36598937 [^Primary]
  • Lensmire JM, Wischer MR, Kraemer-Zimpel C, Kies PJ, Sosinski L, Ensink E, Dodson JP, Shook JC, Delekta PC, Cooper CC, Havlichek DH Jr, Mulks MH, Lunt SY, Ravi J, Hammer ND. The glutathione import system satisfies the Staphylococcus aureus nutrient sulfur requirement and promotes interspecies competition. PLoS Genet. 2023 Jul;19(7):e1010834. PubMed PMID: 37418503
  • Ravi J*, Samart K, Zwolak J. Modeling the START transition in the budding yeast cell cycle. 2023. bioRxiv. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.11.05.564806 [*Corresponding]

Professional Memberships

  • International Society for Computational Biology, Member, Evolution and Comparative Genomics Co-Chair
  • American Society for Microbiology, Member
  • R-Ladies East Lansing, Founder, Co-organizer
  • AsiaR, Co-Founder, Co-organizer
  • Women+ Data Science, Co-founder, Co-organizer
  • R/Bioconductor, Member, Community Advisory Board
  • American Society for Human Genetics, Member

Practice Locations

Center Affiliations
Volunteer Activities
Founder and Co-organizer R-Ladies East Lansing Women+ Data Science AsiaR

Public Speaking
Yes
Computational Biology & Biomedical Data Science; Computational approaches to study infectious diseases/pathogens; Education; Diversity; Training/Mentoring;