DN Rao Veeramachaneni

Dr. Veeramachaneni is a Professor of Reproductive Biology. Research in his laboratory seeks to determine if deteriorating reproductive health in males is really idiopathic, as male infertility often is labeled, or a consequence of exposure to environmental pollutants. Using a variety of laboratory animal models, long-term reproductive sequelae following developmental exposure to ubiquitous pollutants are evaluated. The compounds that have been studied include anti-androgenic pesticides (DDT and its metabolites; vinclozolin), water disinfection byproducts, and plasticizers (phthalates). Notable findings include the impairment of spermiogenesis long after exposure to common chemical contaminants in drinking water and occurrence of carcinoma in situ lesions in the testis following developmental exposures to DDT. Veeramachaneni's laboratory also provides morphological/andrological services that span a variety of tissue matrices in clinical research paradigms (from a variety of species including domesticated, wild, and laboratory animals as well as humans) to facilitate identification, and in many instances interpretation, of subtle lesions. The value of evaluation of the gametes at an ultrastructural level to assess potential fertility is particularly recognized by equine practitioners nationally and internationally. Dr. Veeramachaneni teaches BMS 460-Essentials of Pathophysiology and BMS 461-Pathophysiology Perspectives, a capstone course series in the Biomedical Sciences undergraduate major curriculum. He also teaches endocrine pharmacology and cancer therapeutics in BMS 450-Pharmacology and in the areas of andrology and reproductive toxicology in several undergraduate and graduate level courses (BMS 409, 640, 642).