Rahul Kumar, PhD

Assistant Adjunct Professor

Honors and Awards
  • Best Poster Award, UCSF-Pulmonary Retreat, 2022
  • Jenesis Innovator Research Award, United Therapeutics, USA, 2022
  • Young Investigator Award, 5th international Leh Symposium, India, 2018
  • Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, American Heart Association, USA, 2017
  • Distinction in scholarship, American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology, 2015
  • Certificate of Appreciation for Promoting diversity, University of Colorado, Denver, 2015
  • Editorial Highlights: review article “Schistosomiasis and the pulmonary vasculature, Pulmonary Circulation, 2014
  • Boehringer Ingelheim Young Investigator Travel Award, American Society of Hypertension, New York, USA, 2010
Publications

  1. Kumar R, Kumar S, Mickael C, Fonseca Balladares D, Nolan K, Lee MH, Sanders L, Nilsson J, Molofsky AB, Tuder RM, Stenmark KR, Graham BB. Interstitial macrophage phenotypes in Schistosoma-induced pulmonary hypertension. Frontiers in immunology 2024. PMID: 38779688


  2. Kassa B, Fonseca-Balladares DC, Kumar R, Lee MH, Mickael C, Sanders L, Nolan K, Graham BB. Experimental Schistosoma haematobium pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary circulation 2024. PMID: 38312832


  3. Kumar R, Chanana N, Sharma K, Palmo T, Lee MH, Mishra A, Nolan K, Fonseca Balladares DC, Mickael C, Gupta MD, Thinlas T, Pasha Q, Graham BB. Dexamethasone prophylaxis protects from acute high-altitude illness by modifying the peripheral blood mononuclear cell inflammatory transcriptome. Bioscience reports 2023. PMID: 37975243


  4. Graham BB, Hilton JF, Lee MH, Kumar R, Balladares DF, Rahaghi FN, Estépar RSJ, Mickael C, Lima RLB, Loureiro CMC, Lucena J, Oliveira RKF, Corrêa RA. Is pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with schistosomiasis distinct from pulmonary arterial hypertension associated with portal hypertension? JHLT open 2023. PMID: 38050478


  5. Kumar R, Lee MH, Kassa B, Fonseca Balladares DC, Mickael C, Sanders L, Andruska A, Kumar M, Spiekerkoetter E, Bandeira A, Stenmark KR, Tuder RM, Graham BB. Repetitive schistosoma exposure causes perivascular lung fibrosis and persistent pulmonary hypertension. Clinical science (London, England : 1979) 2023. PMID: 37014925


  6. Kumar R, Aktay-Cetin ?, Craddock V, Morales-Cano D, Kosanovic D, Cogolludo A, Perez-Vizcaino F, Avdeev S, Kumar A, Ram AK, Agarwal S, Chakraborty A, Savai R, de Jesus Perez V, Graham BB, Butrous G, Dhillon NK. Potential long-term effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the pulmonary vasculature: Multilayered cross-talks in the setting of coinfections and comorbidities. PLoS pathogens 2023. PMID: 36634048


  7. Medrano-Garcia S, Morales-Cano D, Barreira B, Vera-Zambrano A, Kumar R, Kosanovic D, Schermuly RT, Graham BB, Perez-Vizcaino F, Mathie A, Savai R, Pullamseti S, Butrous G, Fernández-Malavé E, Cogolludo A. HIV and Schistosoma Co-Exposure Leads to Exacerbated Pulmonary Endothelial Remodeling and Dysfunction Associated with Altered Cytokine Landscape. Volume 11 of Issue 15. Cells 2022. PMID: 35954255


  8. Gu S, Mickael C, Kumar R, Lee MH, Sanders L, Kassa B, Harral J, Williams J, Hansen KC, Stenmark KR, Tuder RM, Graham BB. The role of macrophages in right ventricular remodeling in experimental pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary circulation 2022. PMID: 35874852


  9. Lee MH, Sanders L, Kumar R, Hernandez-Saavedra D, Yun X, Ford JA, Perez MJ, Mickael C, Gandjeva A, Koyanagi DE, Harral JW, Irwin DC, Kassa B, Eckel RH, Shimoda LA, Graham BB, Tuder RM. Contribution of Fatty Acid Oxidation to the Pathogenesis of Pulmonary Hypertension. American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology 2022. PMID: 35763400


  10. Campbell NV, Mickael C, Kumar S, Zhang H, Campbell IL, Gillen AE, Trentin CO, Diener K, Gao B, Kheyfets VO, Gu S, Kumar R, Phang T, Brown RD, Graham BB, Stenmark KR. Single Cell RNA Sequencing and Binary Hierarchical Clustering Defines Lung Interstitial Macrophage Heterogeneity in Response to Hypoxia. 2022. PMID: 35608266


  11. Chanana N, Palmo T, Sharma K, Kumar R, Shah B, Mahajan S, Palleda GM, Gupta MD, Kukreti R, Faruq M, Thinlas T, Graham BB, Pasha Q. Sexual Dimorphism of Dexamethasone as a Prophylactic Treatment in Pathologies Associated With Acute Hypobaric Hypoxia Exposure. Frontiers in pharmacology 2022. PMID: 35668947


  12. Bertero T, Lu Y, Annis S, Hale A, Bhat B, Saggar R, Saggar R, Wallace WD, Ross DJ, Vargas SO, Graham BB, Kumar R, Black SM, Fratz S, Fineman JR, West JD, Haley KJ, Waxman AB, Chau BN, Cottrill KA, Chan SY. Systems-level regulation of microRNA networks by miR-130/301 promotes pulmonary hypertension. 2022. PMID: 35575096


  13. Sinkala E, Ahmed HY, Sibomana JP, Lee MH, Kassa B, Kumar R, Mazimba S, Binegdie AB, Mpisa S, Wamundila K, Graham BB, Hilton JF. Rationale and design of a screening study to detect schistosomiasis-associated pulmonary hypertension in Ethiopia and Zambia. 2022. PMID: 35514775


  14. Kassa B, Lee MH, Kumar R, Mickael C, Sanders L, Tuder RM, Mentink-Kane M, Graham BB. Experimental Schistosoma japonicum-induced pulmonary hypertension. 2022. PMID: 35417453


  15. Kassa B, Kumar R, Mickael C, Sanders L, Vohwinkel C, Lee MH, Gu S, Poth JM, Stenmark KR, Zhao YY, Tuder RM, Graham BB. Endothelial cell PHD2-HIF1α-PFKFB3 contributes to right ventricle vascular adaptation in pulmonary hypertension. American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology 2021. PMID: 34346780


  16. Florentin J, Zhao J, Tai YY, Vasamsetti SB, O'Neil SP, Kumar R, Arunkumar A, Watson A, Sembrat J, Bullock GC, Sanders L, Kassa B, Rojas M, Graham BB, Chan SY, Dutta P. Interleukin-6 mediates neutrophil mobilization from bone marrow in pulmonary hypertension. Cellular & molecular immunology 2021. PMID: 33420357


  17. Sibomana JP, Campeche A, Carvalho-Filho RJ, Correa RA, Duani H, Pacheco Guimaraes V, Hilton JF, Kassa B, Kumar R, Lee MH, Loureiro CMC, Mazimba S, Mickael C, Oliveira RKF, Ota-Arakaki JS, Rezende CF, Silva LCS, Sinkala E, Ahmed HY, Graham BB. Schistosomiasis Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. Frontiers in immunology 2020. PMID: 33362796


  18. Kumar R, Lee MH, Mickael C, Kassa B, Pasha Q, Tuder R, Graham B. Pathophysiology and potential future therapeutic targets using preclinical models of COVID-19. ERJ open research 2020. PMID: 33313306


  19. Kumar R, Mickael C, Kassa B, Sanders L, Hernandez-Saavedra D, Koyanagi DE, Kumar S, Pugliese SC, Thomas S, McClendon J, Maloney JP, Janssen WJ, Stenmark KR, Tuder RM, Graham BB. Interstitial Macrophage-Derived Thrombospondin-1 Contributes to Hypoxia-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension. Cardiovascular research 2019. PMID: 31710666


  20. Chanana N, Palmo T, Sharma K, Kumar R, Graham BB, Pasha Q. Sex-derived attributes contributing to SARS-CoV-2 mortality. American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism 2020. PMID: 32726128


  21. Alam P, Agarwal G, Kumar R, Mishra A, Saini N, Mohammad G, Pasha MAQ. Susceptibility to high-altitude pulmonary edema is associated with circulating miRNA levels under hypobaric hypoxia conditions. Volume 319 of Issue 2. American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology 2020. PMID: 32692577


  22. Hernandez-Saavedra D, Sanders L, Freeman S, Reisz JA, Lee MH, Mickael C, Kumar R, Kassa B, Gu S, D' Alessandro A, Stenmark KR, Tuder RM, Graham BB. Publisher Correction: Stable isotope metabolomics of pulmonary artery smooth muscle and endothelial cells in pulmonary hypertension and with TGF-beta treatment. Volume 10 of Issue 1. Scientific Reports 2020. PMID: 32132567


  23. Hernandez-Saavedra D, Sanders L, Freeman S, Reisz JA, Lee MH, Mickael C, Kumar R, Kassa B, Gu S, Alessandro A, Stenmark KR, Tuder RM, Graham BB. Stable isotope metabolomics of pulmonary artery smooth muscle and endothelial cells in pulmonary hypertension and with TGF-beta treatment. Volume 10 of Issue 1. Scientific Reports 2020. PMID: 31942023


  24. Kumar R, Mickael C, Kassa B, Sanders L, Koyanagi D, Hernandez-Saavedra D, Freeman S, Morales-Cano D, Cogolludo A, McKee AS, Fontenot AP, Butrous G, Tuder RM, Graham BB. Th2 CD4+ T Cells Are Necessary and Sufficient for Schistosoma-Pulmonary Hypertension. Volume 8 of Issue 15. Journal of the American Heart Association 2019. PMID: 31339057


  25. Mickael C, Kumar R, Hernandez-Saavedra D, Kassa B, Sanders L, Koyanagi D, Gu S, Lee MH, Tuder RM, Graham BB. IL-6Ra in Smooth Muscle Cells Protects against Schistosoma- and Hypoxia-induced Pulmonary Hypertension. Volume 61 of Issue 1. American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology 2019. PMID: 31259624


  26. Yu Q, Tai YY, Tang Y, Zhao J, Negi V, Culley MK, Pilli J, Sun W, Brugger K, Mayr J, Saggar R, Saggar R, Wallace WD, Ross DJ, Waxman AB, Wendell SG, Mullett SJ, Sembrat J, Rojas M, Khan OF, Dahlman JE, Sugahara M, Kagiyama N, Satoh T, Zhang M, Feng N, Gorcsan J, Vargas SO, Haley KJ, Kumar R, Graham BB, Langer R, Anderson DG, Wang B, Shiva S, Bertero T, Chan SY. BOLA (BolA Family Member 3) Deficiency Controls Endothelial Metabolism and Glycine Homeostasis in Pulmonary Hypertension. Volume 139 of Issue 19. Circulation 2019. PMID: 30759996


  27. Gu S, Kumar R, Lee MH, Mickael C, Graham BB. Common genetic variants in pulmonary arterial hypertension. Volume 7 of Issue 3. The Lancet. Respiratory medicine 2018. PMID: 30527955


  28. Kassa B, Mickael C, Kumar R, Sanders L, Koyanagi D, Hernandez-Saavedra D, Tuder RM, Graham BB. Paclitaxel blocks Th2-mediated TGF-ß activation in Schistosoma mansoni-induced pulmonary hypertension. Volume 9 of Issue 1. Pulmonary circulation 2018. PMID: 30511588


  29. Graham BB, Kumar R, Mickael C, Kassa B, Koyanagi D, Sanders L, Zhang L, Perez M, Hernandez-Saavedra D, Valencia C, Dixon K, Harral J, Loomis Z, Irwin D, Nemkov T, D'Alessandro A, Stenmark KR, Tuder RM. Vascular Adaptation of the Right Ventricle in Experimental Pulmonary Hypertension. Volume 59 of Issue 4. American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology 2018. PMID: 29851508


  30. Kumar R, Graham B. IL-33-HIF1a Axis in Hypoxic Pulmonary Hypertension. Volume 33. EBioMedicine 2018. PMID: 30049389


  31. Samokhin AO, Stephens T, Wertheim BM, Wang RS, Vargas SO, Yung LM, Cao M, Brown M, Arons E, Dieffenbach PB, Fewell JG, Matar M, Bowman FP, Haley KJ, Alba GA, Marino SM, Kumar R, Rosas IO, Waxman AB, Oldham WM, Khanna D, Graham BB, Seo S, Gladyshev VN, Yu PB, Fredenburgh LE, Loscalzo J, Leopold JA, Maron BA. NEDD9 targets COL3A1 to promote endothelial fibrosis and pulmonary arterial hypertension. Volume 10 of Issue 445. Science translational medicine 2018. PMID: 29899023


  32. Kumar R, Graham B. How does inflammation contribute to pulmonary hypertension? Volume 51 of Issue 1. The European respiratory journal 2018. PMID: 29371392


  33. Kumar R, Mickael C, Kassa B, Gebreab L, Robinson JC, Koyanagi DE, Sanders L, Barthel L, Meadows C, Fox D, Irwin D, Li M, McKeon BA, Riddle S, Dale Brown R, Morgan LE, Evans CM, Hernandez-Saavedra D, Bandeira A, Maloney JP, Bull TM, Janssen WJ, Stenmark KR, Tuder RM, Graham BB. TGF-ß activation by bone marrow-derived thrombospondin-1 causes Schistosoma- and hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension. Volume 8. Nature communications 2017. PMID: 28555642


  34. Kohli S, Kumar R, Gupta M, Tyagi S, Pasha MA. Impact of interactions between risk alleles on clinical endpoints in hypertension. Volume 8 of Issue 1. Heart Asia 2016. PMID: 27326240


  35. Ali Z, Waseem M, Kumar R, Pandey P, Mohammad G, Qadar Pasha MA. Unveiling the interactions among BMPR-2, ALK-1 and 5-HTT genes in the pathophysiology of HAPE. Volume 588 of Issue 2. Gene 2016. PMID: 27196063


  36. Bertero T, Cottrill KA, Lu Y, Haeger CM, Dieffenbach P, Annis S, Hale A, Bhat B, Kaimal V, Zhang YY, Graham BB, Kumar R, Saggar R, Saggar R, Wallace WD, Ross DJ, Black SM, Fratz S, Fineman JR, Vargas SO, Haley KJ, Waxman AB, Chau BN, Fredenburgh LE, Chan SY. Matrix Remodeling Promotes Pulmonary Hypertension through Feedback Mechanoactivation of the YAP/TAZ-miR-130/301 Circuit. Volume 13 of Issue 5. Cell reports 2015. PMID: 26565914


  37. Kumar R, Mickael C, Chabon J, Gebreab L, Rutebemberwa A, Garcia AR, Koyanagi DE, Sanders L, Gandjeva A, Kearns MT, Barthel L, Janssen WJ, Mauad T, Bandeira A, Schmidt E, Tuder RM, Graham BB. The Causal Role of IL-4 and IL-13 in Schistosoma mansoni Pulmonary Hypertension. Volume 192 of Issue 8. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine 2015. PMID: 26192556


  38. Graham BB, Kumar R, Mickael C, Sanders L, Gebreab L, Huber KM, Perez M, Smith-Jones P, Serkova NJ, Tuder RM. Severe pulmonary hypertension is associated with altered right ventricle metabolic substrate uptake. Volume 309 of Issue 5. American journal of physiology. Lung cellular and molecular physiology 2015. PMID: 26115672


  39. White K, Lu Y, Annis S, Hale AE, Chau BN, Dahlman JE, Hemann C, Opotowsky AR, Vargas SO, Rosas I, Perrella MA, Osorio JC, Haley KJ, Graham BB, Kumar R, Saggar R, Saggar R, Wallace WD, Ross DJ, Khan OF, Bader A, Gochuico BR, Matar M, Polach K, Johannessen NM, Prosser HM, Anderson DG, Langer R, Zweier JL, Bindoff LA, Systrom D, Waxman AB, Jin RC, Chan SY. Genetic and hypoxic alterations of the microRNA-210-ISCU1/2 axis promote iron-sulfur deficiency and pulmonary hypertension. Volume 7 of Issue 6. EMBO molecular medicine 2015. PMID: 25825391


  40. Kumar R, Kohli S, Ali Z, Duhan K, Ram R, Gupta M, Tyagi S, Mohammad G, Pasha MQ. CYBA (p22phox) variants associate with blood pressure and oxidative stress markers in hypertension: a replication study in populations of diverse altitudes. Volume 38 of Issue 7. Hypertension research : official journal of the Japanese Society of Hypertension 2015. PMID: 25787042


  41. Graham BB, Kumar R. Schistosomiasis and the pulmonary vasculature (2013 Grover Conference series). Volume 4 of Issue 3. Pulmonary circulation 2014. PMID: 25621148


  42. Kumar R, Kohli S, Mishra A, Garg R, Alam P, Stobdan T, Nejatizadeh A, Gupta M, Tyagi S, Pasha MA. Interactions between the genes of vasodilatation pathways influence blood pressure and nitric oxide level in hypertension. Volume 28 of Issue 2. American journal of hypertension 2014. PMID: 25159081


  43. Bertero T, Lu Y, Annis S, Hale A, Bhat B, Saggar R, Saggar R, Wallace WD, Ross DJ, Vargas SO, Graham BB, Kumar R, Black SM, Fratz S, Fineman JR, West JD, Haley KJ, Waxman AB, Chau BN, Cottrill KA, Chan SY. Systems-level regulation of microRNA networks by miR-130/301 promotes pulmonary hypertension. Volume 124 of Issue 8. The Journal of clinical investigation 2014. PMID: 24960162


  44. Gupta MD, Girish MP, Sikdar S, Ahuja R, Shah D, Kumar R, Rain M, Nejatizadeh A, Tyagi S, Pasha Q. ß-T594M epithelial sodium channel gene polymorphism and essential hypertension in individuals of Indo-Aryan ancestry in Northern India. Volume 66 of Issue 4. Indian heart journal 2014. PMID: 25173196


  45. Chabon JJ, Gebreab L, Kumar R, Debella E, Tanaka T, Koyanagi D, Rodriguez Garcia A, Sanders L, Perez M, Tuder RM, Graham BB. Role of vascular endothelial growth factor signaling in Schistosoma-induced experimental pulmonary hypertension. Volume 4 of Issue 2. Pulmonary circulation 2014. PMID: 25006448


  46. Gupta MD, Akkarappatty C, Girish MP, Kumar R, Rain M, Tyagi S, Qadar Pasha MA. Association between the Glu298Asp and 4b/4a polymorphisms of endothelial nitric oxide synthase and coronary slow flow in the North Indian population. Volume 25 of Issue 3. Coronary artery disease 2014. PMID: 24525787


  47. Graham BB, Chabon J, Kumar R, Kolosionek E, Gebreab L, Debella E, Edwards M, Diener K, Shade T, Bifeng G, Bandeira A, Butrous G, Jones K, Geraci M, Tuder RM. Protective role of IL-6 in vascular remodeling in Schistosoma pulmonary hypertension. Volume 49 of Issue 6. American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology 2013. PMID: 23815102


  48. Tuder RM, Stacher E, Robinson J, Kumar R, Graham BB. Pathology of pulmonary hypertension. Volume 34 of Issue 4. Clinics in chest medicine 2013. PMID: 24267295


  49. Kumar R, Kohli S, Alam P, Barkotoky R, Gupta M, Tyagi S, Jain SK, Pasha MA. Interactions between the FTO and GNB3 genes contribute to varied clinical phenotypes in hypertension. Volume 8 of Issue 5. PloS one 2013. PMID: 23691120


  50. Ali Z, Mishra A, Kumar R, Alam P, Pandey P, Ram R, Thinlas T, Mohammad G, Pasha MA. Interactions among vascular-tone modulators contribute to high altitude pulmonary edema and augmented vasoreactivity in highlanders. Volume 7 of Issue 9. PloS one 2012. PMID: 22984459


  51. Mishra A, Ali Z, Vibhuti A, Kumar R, Alam P, Ram R, Thinlas T, Mohammad G, Pasha MA. CYBA and GSTP1 variants associate with oxidative stress under hypobaric hypoxia as observed in high-altitude pulmonary oedema. Volume 122 of Issue 6. Clinical science (London, England : 1979) 2012. PMID: 21973220


  52. Kumar R, Nejatizadeh A, Gupta M, Markan A, Tyagi S, Jain SK, Pasha MA. The epistasis between vascular homeostasis genes is apparent in essential hypertension. Volume 220 of Issue 2. Atherosclerosis 2011. PMID: 22134143


  53. Nejatizadeh A, Kumar R, Stobdan T, Pasha MQ. Association of GNB3 C825T polymorphism with plasma electrolyte balance and susceptibility to hypertension. Volume 34 of Issue 4. Genetics and molecular biology 2011. PMID: 22215956


  54. Nejatizadeh A, Kumar R, Stobdan T, Goyal AK, Gupta M, Tyagi S, Jain SK, Pasha MA. CYP11B2 gene haplotypes independently and in concurrence with aldosterone and aldosterone to renin ratio increase the risk of hypertension. Volume 43 of Issue 1-2. Clinical biochemistry 2009. PMID: 19786005


  55. Kumar R, Nejatizadeh A, Arif E, Akhtar S, Gupta M, Tyagi S, Goyal AK, Jain SK, Qadar Pasha MA. Multi-locus interactions of vascular homeostasis genes in essential hypertension: a gender-based study. Volume 405 of Issue 1-2. Clinica chimica acta; international journal of clinical chemistry 2009. PMID: 19379721


  56. Nejatizadeh A, Kumar R, Stobdan T, Goyal AK, Gupta M, Javed S, Pasha MQ. Significance of angiotensinogen gene haplotypes and genotypes combinations in hypertension. Volume 26 of Issue 6. Journal of hypertension 2008. PMID: 18475146


  57. Nejatizadeh A, Kumar R, Stobdan T, Goyal AK, Sikdar S, Gupta M, Javed S, Pasha MA. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase gene haplotypes and circulating nitric oxide levels significantly associate with risk of essential hypertension. Volume 44 of Issue 11. Free radical biology & medicine 2008. PMID: 18325347