Neelakanta (Ravi) Ravindranath, D.V.M., Ph.D.

Ravi Ravindranath, D.V.M., Ph.D., joined the Fertility and Infertility Branch in May 2012 and directs the preimplantation genetics and development and the reproductive neuroendocrinology programs for the branch. He is responsible for a portfolio of grants related to competency of oocytes, fertilization, preimplantation embryo development, embryonic stem cells, and totipotent and pluripotent cells in the embryo; and neuroendocrine control of reproduction including ovulation, sexual behavior, and integration of metabolism and reproduction. In addition, his portfolio includes grants related to genomic reprogramming in oocytes and early embryos, preimplantation genetic diagnosis, and Assisted Reproductive Technologies. Following his doctorate in veterinary medicine and master's in microbiology, Ravi obtained a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Indian Institute of Science. He completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh and at the Clinical Research Institute of Montreal, Canada, before becoming a faculty member in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C. He was also an adjunct scientist in the Laboratory of Clinical and Developmental Genomics within NICHD's Division of Intramural Research. His research background includes reproductive biology and endocrinology of rodents and nonhuman primates. He came to the NIH in 2004 as a scientific review officer in the Center for Scientific Review, where he oversaw the Development-2 Study Section.