Virginia Commonwealth University

VCU Chemical and Life Science Engineering

Faculty & staff

Dr. Rao
Dr. Raj R. Rao
Assistant professor
Phone: (804) 828-4268
Fax: (804) 828-3846
E-mail: rrrao@vcu.edu
Web site: www.engineering.vcu.edu/rao-lab
Address
601 West Main Street, Room 414
P.O. Box 843028
Richmond, Virginia 23284-3028

Education

  • Ph.D., Biological Engineering, The University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 2001
  • M.S., Biotechnology, University of Texas, San Antonio, TX, 1996
  • M.Sc., (Hons) Biological Sciences*, Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences, Pilani, India, 1993
  • B.E., (Hons) Chemical Engineering*, Birla Institute of Technology and Sciences, Pilani, India, 1993

* concurrent degrees in a dual-degree program

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Research interests

  • Stem cells
  • Regenerative Medicine
  • Cellular/tissue engineering
  • Genomics
  • Biomaterials
  • Cell-based assays 

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Selected Awards

  • 2008- NSF- Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award

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Editorial Advisory Board

  • Journal of Biological Engineering, BioMed Central, 2007-present

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Advanced Courses in Stem Cell Research

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Publications

  • Dhara, S.K., Hasneen, K., Machacek, D.W., Boyd, N.L., Rao, R.R., and S.L. Stice. Human neural progenitor cells derived from embryonic stem cells in feeder-free cultures. Differentiation. Jan 3. Epub ahead of print. (2008)
  • Rao, R.R., Johnson, A.V., and Stice, S.L. Cell surface markers in human embryonic stem cells. Methods in Molecular Biology-Stem Cell Assays. 407: 51-61 (2007)
  • Boyd, N.L., Dhara, S.K., Rekaya, R., Godbey, E.A., Hasneen, K., Rao, R.R., West III, F.D., Gerwe, B.A., and S.L. Stice. Bone Morphogenic Protein 4 Promotes Development and Outgrowth of Primitive Vascular Networks in Human Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Embryoid Bodies. Experimental Biology and Medicine. 232: 833-843. (2007)
  • Tibbitts, D., Rao, R.R., Shin, S., West, F., and Stice, S.L. Uniform populations of adherent neural progenitor cells derived from rhesus monkey embryonic stem cells. Stem Cells and Development Vol. 15(2): 200-208. (2006)
  • Shin, S., Mitalipova, M., Noggle, S., Tibbitts, D., Venable, A., Rao, R.R., and S.L. Stice. Long term proliferation of human embryonic stem cell-derived neuroepithelial cells using defined adherent culture conditions. Stem Cells Vol. 24(1): 125-138. (2006)
  • Mitalipova, M.M.*, Rao, R.R.*, Hoyer, D., Jones, K., Johnson, J., Dalton, S., Meisner, L., and S.L. Stice. Preserving the genetic integrity of human embryonic stem cell lines. Nature Biotechnology. 23(1): 19-20 (2005). (* equal contribution to work)
  • Rao, R. R., and S.L. Stice. Gene Expression Profiling of Embryonic Stem Cells Leads to Greater Understanding of Pluripotency and Early Developmental Events. Biol Reprod. 71(6):1772-1778 (2004).
  • Rao, R.R., Calhoun, J., Qin, X., Rekaya, R., Clark, J., and S.L. Stice. Comparative transcriptional profiling of two human embryonic stem cell lines. Biotechnology and Bioengineering. Oct 18;88(3):273-286 (2004).
  • Rao, R.R.,* Calhoun, J.,* Warrenfeltz, S., Rekaya, R., Dalton, S., McDonald, J., and S.L. Stice. Transcriptional profiling of initial differentiation events in human embryonic stem cells. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 323(2):453-464 (2004).
  • Rao, R.R. and W.S. Kisaalita. A single magnetic field exposure system for sequential investigation of real-time and downstream cellular responses. Bioelectromagnetics, 25(1):27-32 (2004).
  • McCloskey, K. Lyons, I., Rao, R.R., Stice, S.L., and R.M. Nerem. Purified and proliferating endothelial cells derived and expanded in vitro from embryonic stem cells. Endothelium, 10(6):329-36 (2003).
  • Rao, R.R. and W.S. Kisaalita. Biochemical and electrophysiological differentiation profile of a human neuroblastoma (IMR-32) cell line. In Vitro-Cell Dev Biol Anim,38(8):450-456 (2002).
  • Rao, R.R. Halper, J., and W.S. Kisaalita. Effects of 60 Hz electromagnetic field exposure on APP695 transcription in differentiating human neuroblastoma cells. Bioelectrochemistry, 57:9-15 (2002).

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Society membership

  • Society for Biological Engineering, 2006 – present
  • Biomedical Engineering Society, 2002 – present
  • Institute of Biological Engineering, 2003 – present
  • International Society for Stem Cell Research, 2003 – present

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