Dr Sreepoorna Pramodh PhD, FHEA

• Fellow of Higher Education Academy, 2021
• PhD in Applied Biology, National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, India, 2014
• MSc in Biotechnology, University of Mumbai, India, 2004
• BSc in Biochemistry, University of Mumbai, India, 2002

Dr. Sreepoorna Pramodh completed her Bachelor’s in Biochemistry and Master’s in Biotechnology from the University of Mumbai, India. She secured two competitive grants from the Government of India, namely- the Indian Council of Medical Research Fellowship (ICMR JRF) and The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, University Grants Commission Fellowship (CSIR-UGC) and pursued her Doctoral research at the Stem Cell Lab of The National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health, India. As part of her research, she was successful in standardizing protocols for slow rate programmed cryopreservation of human testicular tissue and for culture, characterization, and propagation of human spermatogonial stem cells (hSSCs).

Before joining the University of Birmingham, Dr. Sree taught plant and animal biology, research methodology and life science at Zayed University. Furthering her interest in women’s health she explored the knowledge and attitudes and awareness of Emirati students towards poly cystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). She initiated cervical cancer research and evaluated role of several plant flavonoids as potential chemoprotectants. She has an active research profile and has publications in Scopus indexed journals. She is a regular reviewer of several life science journals such as Stem Cell Reviews and Reports, Journal of Ovarian Research, BMC Women’s Health etc

At the University of Birmingham, Dr. Sree is teaching varied topics related to Endocrinology, Reproductive Science, Cell Biology and Immunology. She will continue to focus in her research areas of stem cell biology and cancer biology, develop research collaborations and encourage undergraduate student research.

• Biomedical Science BSc (Dubai)
• Biomedical Science BSc with Integrated Foundation Year (Dubai)
• Biomedical Science, MSci (Dubai)

Research interests

Dr. Sree’s areas of research expertise are in reproductive biology, stem cell biology and cancer biology which have a lot of clinical potential and translational value.

Stem Cells & Reproductive Biology

Dr. Sree’s doctoral work was based on male fertility preservation and male germ stem cells known as spermatogonial stem cells. She has expertise in characterization and culture of human spermatogonial cells and has contributed to several reviews and research papers in this area. She is the Co-PI of a Mesenchymal Stem Cell based collaborative project being undertaken at University of Sharjah and is a member of the UAE Stem Cell Association.

Another strand of research she is interested in is reproductive biology.  She completed a qualitative research study on assessing Emirati students’ awareness of Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome (Pramodh S, 2020). The study was well received, eliciting good readership and several research groups have used her published survey instrument.

Cancer Biology

Dr. Sree initiated cervical cancer cell line-based research on evaluating plant flavones for their chemoprotective potential in her previous place of work, Zayed University. She was funded for this project by Zayed University Research Fund (AED221,500) which was conducted in collaboration with School of Life Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Dubai. The epigenetic mechanisms involved in silencing/activating oncogenes under the influence of plant flavones such as luteolin, fisetin, kaempferol etc. were explored extensively. The study led to several publications in Scopus indexed journals. She acquired plant flavone subject knowledge and was invited by other research groups to contribute to their projects. This project laid the foundation of her current research in cancer biology.

Dr. Sree intends to continue her research in cancer and stem cell biology and hopes to secure external grants and engage students in research.

• Regular reviewer of several life science journals
• Member of UAE Stem Cell Association