The research lab of Dibyadyuti Datta, PhD, focuses on two key areas: (1) identifying biomarkers that predict long-term neurodisability in cerebral and non-cerebral severe malaria, as well as other childhood CNS disorders relevant to malaria-endemic regions, including traumatic brain injury (TBI) and (2) investigating the mechanisms of blood-brain barrier dysfunction in cerebral malaria. Using clinical samples from prospective pediatric cohorts of children alongside a pluripotent stem cell-derived in vitro model of the neurovascular unit (NVU), ongoing studies aim to uncover mechanisms of NVU damage that may lead to lasting neurological consequences in childhood survivors of cerebral malaria.
Current projects in the lab are focused on mapping metabolic alterations in the CNS using clinical samples and characterizing the cellular metabolic profile of the NVU in vitro following exposure to malaria-infected red blood cells. These studies seek to identify host metabolic pathways contributing to parasite-mediated BBB disruption and NVU damage, intending to discover potential therapeutic targets.
A recently completed pilot pediatric TBI study in Uganda assessed critical healthcare gaps, fostered key collaborations, and helped recruit and train personnel to establish the infrastructure for sustained pediatric TBI research. Ongoing analysis from this study will inform future multidisciplinary collaborations aimed at improving standards of care and rehabilitation strategies for children with TBI, ultimately working to prevent or mitigate long-term neurodisability.
Research Funding
Project Title: Acute brain injury and blood-brain barrier dysfunction in cerebral malaria (ABC)
Funding Agency: NIH/NINDS
Award Number: 1R21 NS127215
Period: 02/15/2022 – 01/31/2024
Amount: $532,810
Goal: This study seeks to define pathways of blood-brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction leading to acute brain injury in cerebral malaria using an in vitro multicellular blood-brain-barrier model and samples from Ugandan children with cerebral malaria.
Project Title: Blood-Biomarkers and Risk Factors of Acute Brain Injury associated with Neurodisability in Ugandan Children (BRAIN-Child)
Funding Agency: NIH/NINDS
Award Number: 1R21 NS129234
Period: 08/15/2022 – 07/31/2024
Amount: $351,649
Goal: This study seeks to identify brain injury biomarkers or risk factors including glucose abnormalities, cellular injury, and endothelial dysfunction in children hospitalized with TBI and at risk of neurocognitive impairment at 6-months, and to embed this work within a framework to expand research capacity in Uganda.
Project Title: Investigating the blood metabolite signatures associated with the pathogenesis of brain injury in pediatric severe malaria
Funding Agency: Showalter Young Investigator Award
Period: 07/2024 – 06/2025
Amount: $75,000
Goal: This study seeks to conduct a comprehensive multi-platform blood metabolome analysis to identify metabolic derangements associated with the neuropathology of cerebral malaria and severe malarial anemia in Ugandan children aged 18 months to 12 years.
Project Title: Northern Pacific Global Health Leadership, Education, and Development for Early-career Researchers (NPGH LEADERs)
Funding Agency: NIH/FIC
Award Number: 5D43TW009345
Period: 07/01/2023 – 06/30/2027
Amount: $976,000
Goal: The annual Launching Future Leaders in Global Health Research Training Program Orientation and Training is an essential week of learning and networking that helps launch Fogarty trainees into a successful fellowship year contributing to improvements in global health in low- and middle-income countries around the world.
Project Title: Severe Malaria and Risk to The Brain (SMART Brain)
Funding Agency: NIH/NINDS
Award Number: R21 NS129234
Period: 02/2024 – 01/2029
Amount: $4,965,610
Goal: To identify the key central nervous system and systemic factors that together contribute to neurodevelopmental impairment in cerebral malaria or severe malarial anemia, possibly leading to interventions that prevent or decrease brain injury and the loss of developmental potential in hundreds of thousands of children in malaria-endemic areas of Africa.
Bond C †, Bednarski OJ, Datta D, Namazzi R, Opoka RO, Lima-Cooper G, Batte A, Udumula K †, Balasubramani D †, Vasquez M, Rodriguez A, Liepmann C, Bangirana P, Abreu M, Schwantes-An TH, Zhao Y, El-Achkar TM, Schmidt NW, John CC, Conroy AL. Elevated uric acid levels, mortality, and cognitive impairment in children with severe malaria. Nat Med. 2025 Jan 24. doi: 10.1038/s41591-024-03430-8. PMID: 39856335.
Opoka RO, Namazzi R, Datta D, Bangirana P, Conroy AL, Goings MJ, Mellencamp KA, John CC. Severe falciparum malaria in young children is associated with an increased risk of post-discharge hospitalization: a prospective cohort study. Malar J. 2024 Dec 4;23(1):367. doi: 10.1186/s12936-024-05196-3. PMID: 39633351; PMCID: PMC11616343.
Boland W †, Datta D, Namazzi R, Bond C, Conroy AL, Mellencamp KA, Opoka RO, John CC, Rivera ML. Peripheral Perfusion Index in Ugandan Children With Plasmodium falciparum Severe Malaria: Secondary Analysis of Outcomes in a 2014-2017 Cohort Study. Pediatr Crit Care Med. 2024 Sep 26;. doi: 10.1097/PCC.0000000000003624. PMID: 39324855.
Namazzi R, Mellencamp KA, Opoka RO, Datta D, Lima-Cooper G, Liepmann C, Sherman J, Rodriguez A, Kazinga C, Ware RE, Goings MG, Lacerda M, Abreu M, Schwantes-An TH, John CC, Conroy AL. Circulating immune complexes and G6PD deficiency predict readmissions for blackwater fever and severe anemia in children with severe malaria in Eastern Uganda. J Infect Dis. 2024 Aug 29;. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiae431. PMID: 39208451
Gopinadhan A †, Hughes JM, Conroy AL, John CC, Canfield SG, Datta D. A human pluripotent stem cell-derived in vitro model of the blood-brain barrier in cerebral malaria. Fluids Barriers CNS. 2024 May 1;21(1):38. doi: 10.1186/s12987-024-00541-9. PMID: 38693577; PMCID: PMC11064301
‡ Corresponding author.
Namazzi R, Bond C, Conroy AL, Datta D, Tagoola A, Goings MJ, Jang JH, Ware RE, Opoka R, John CC. Hydroxyurea reduces infections in children with sickle cell anemia in Uganda. Blood. 2024 Apr 4;143(14):1425-1428. doi: 10.1182/blood.2023021575. PMID: 38169476; PMCID: PMC11033589
Kawata K, Rettke DJ, Thompson C, Mannix R, Bazarian JJ, Datta D. Effectiveness of biomedical interventions on the chronic stage of traumatic brain injury: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials. Front Neurol. 2024;15:1321239. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1321239. eCollection 2024. PMID: 38562423; PMCID: PMC10983769
Datta D, Gopinadhan A, Soto A, Bangirana P, Opoka RO, Conroy AL, Saykin AJ, Kawata K, John CC. Blood biomarkers of neuronal injury in paediatric cerebral malaria and severe malarial anaemia. Brain Commun. 2023 Nov 27;5(6):fcad323. doi: 10.1093/braincomms/fcad323. PMID: 38075948
Lima-Cooper G, Ouma BJ, Datta D, Bond C, Soto AA, Conroy AL, Park GS, Bangirana P, Joloba ML, Opoka RO, Idro R, John CC. Apolipoprotein-E4: risk of severe malaria and mortality and cognitive impairment in pediatric cerebral malaria. Pediatr Res. 2023 Nov 25. doi: 10.1038/s41390-023-02912-8. Online ahead of print. PMID: 38007518
Vasquez M, Sica M, Namazzi R, Opoka RO, Sherman J, Datta D, Duran-Frigola M, Ssenkusu JM, John CC, Conroy AL, Rodriguez A. Xanthine oxidase levels and immune dysregulation are independently associated with anemia in Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Sci Rep. 2023 Sep 7;13(1):14720. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-41764-4. PMID: 37679382 Free PMC article.
Namazzi R, Opoka R, Conroy AL, Datta D, Tagoola A, Bond C, Goings MJ, Ryu MS, Cusick SE, Krebs NF, Jang JH, Tu W, Ware RE, John CC. Zinc for infection prevention in children with sickle cell anemia: a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial. Blood Adv. 2023 Jul 11;7(13):3023-3031. doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2022008539. PMID: 36735400 Free PMC article. Clinical Trial.
Conroy AL, Datta D, Opoka RO, Batte A, Bangirana P, Gopinadhan A, Mellencamp KA, Akcan-Arikan A, Idro R, John CC. Cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers provide evidence for kidney-brain axis involvement in cerebral malaria pathogenesis. Front Hum Neurosci. 2023 May 2;17:1177242. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2023.1177242. PMID: 37200952
Conroy AL, Datta D, Hoffmann A, Wassmer SC. Trends Parasitol. The kidney-brain pathogenic axis in severe falciparum malaria. 2023 Mar;39(3):191-199. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2023.01.005. Epub 2023 Feb 2. PMID: 36737313 Free article. Review.
Conroy AL, Tran TM, Bond C, Opoka RO, Datta D, Liechty EA, Bangirana P, Namazzi R, Idro R, Cusick S, Ssenkusu JM, John CC. Plasma Amino Acid Concentrations in Children With Severe Malaria Are Associated With Mortality and Worse Long-term Kidney and Cognitive Outcomes. J Infect Dis. 2022 Dec 13;226(12):2215-2225. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiac392. PMID: 36179241 Free PMC article.
Sarangam ML, Namazzi R, Datta D, Bond C, Vanderpool CPB, Opoka RO, John CC, Conroy AL. Intestinal Injury Biomarkers Predict Mortality in Pediatric Severe Malaria. mBio. 2022 Sep 7;:e0132522. doi: 10.1128/mbio.01325-22. PubMed PMID: 36069443.
Khaitan A, Datta D*, Bond C, Goings M, Co K, Odhiambo EO, Miller L, Zhang L, Beasley S, Poorbaugh J, John CC. Level and Duration of IgG and Neutralizing Antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in Children with Symptomatic or Asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 Infection. Immunohorizons. 2022 Jun 24;6(6):408-415. doi: 10.4049/immunohorizons.2200029. PubMed PMID: 35750355.
*co-first author
Fernander EM, Adogamhe P, Datta D, Bond C, Zhao Y, Bangirana P, Conroy AL, Opoka RO, John CC. Elevated Plasma Soluble ST2 Levels are Associated With Neuronal Injury and Neurocognitive Impairment in Children With Cerebral Malaria. Pathog Immun. 2022;7(1):60-80. doi: 10.20411/pai.v7i1.499. eCollection 2022. PubMed PMID: 35800259; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9254869.
Faculty Research Team
Additional current research team members
Finley Andrew, MS, Research Technician
Sai Meghana Imadabattini, Master’s Student
Poorva Reddy Vanga, Master’s Student
Past team members
Vijay Bommireddy, Master’s Student
Adnan Gopinadhan, PhD, Postdoctoral Researcher