University Medicine Announces New Director of Research Integration, Dr. Ramratnam, MD

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – University Medicine, a nonprofit primary care, specialty outpatient and sub-specialty medical group practice with over 200 physicians and over 20 patient care locations across the state, announces that Bharat Ramratnam, MD has been named Director of Research Integration. The announcement was made by Louis B. Rice, MD, president and CEO of University Medicine.

In this newly created role, Dr. Ramratnam will work closely with Dr. Lance Dworkin, vice chairman for research, ethics and academic affairs, to promote collaborative research across disciplines within University Medicine’s Department of Medicine. Dr. Ramratnam, who completed undergraduate and postgraduate education at Brown University and a postdoctoral fellowship at The Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center of the Rockefeller University, is uniquely suited to spearhead this new initiative given his proven record of continuous NIH-funded research in basic, clinical and behavioral science, according to Dr. Rice.

Dr. Ramratnam, an associate professor of medicine at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, is director of the Lifespan/Tufts/Brown Center for AIDS Research Laboratory of Retrovirology at Rhode Island Hospital. He currently leads a multi-disciplinary team focusing on reproductive hormones and their impact on HIV-1 acquisition. Additionally, he directs the COBRE Center for Cancer Research Development at Rhode Island Hospital and is the Medical Director for the Lifespan Clinical Research Center.

Under Dr. Ramratnam’s leadership, the Office of Research Integration will issue requests for applications (RFAs) to fund the preparation of a number of collaborative program project grants in fiscal year 2015. The office will also assess the state of clinical and basic science research in the Department of Medicine, disseminate opportunities, and develop a strategic plan that will ensure the continued excellence of the department in its mission of providing state-of-the-art medical care to individuals in Rhode Island and surrounding communities.

For over 12 years, Dr. Ramratnam has been an appointed reviewer of investigator-initiated grants for a wide range of national and international medical boards, drug treatments and programs, and research projects. He is currently overseeing seven ongoing grants involving a total of over $2 million in funding. In addition to his research on the role of reproductive hormones on HIV-1 acquisitions, other grants he is involved with include an investigation on the genetic information transfer to hematopoietic cells and the role of microvesicles, studies in HIV-1 pathogenesis and transmission, and a study of bio behavioral interactions and intervention between alcohol and HIV.

Ramratnam has received numerous awards including the NIH Career Development Award, the Doris Duke Clinical Scientist Award, the Daland Fellowship in Clinical Investigation from the American Philosophical Society, and the Culpepper Award from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Locally, he received the Lifespan Bruce Selya award for Research Excellence, and the Dean’s Teaching Excellence Award from the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University.

Dr. Ramratnam earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Brown University in 1986 and his doctor of medicine degree from The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University in 1993. He resides in Little Compton, R.I.

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