Manikkam (Suthan) Suthanthiran, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.S.N., F.A.S.T.
Manikkam (Suthan) Suthanthiran is the Founding Chief of the Department of Transplantation Medicine at NewYork-Presbyterian-Weill Cornell Medical Center (NYP-WCMC) and the Chief of Division of Nephrology and Hypertension. He holds the Stanton Griffis Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Professorships in Biochemistry and Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College.
RESEARCH ACCOMPLISHMENTS. Dr. Suthanthiran’s laboratory discovered that T cell CD2 is a receptor for antigen presenting cells and generates obligatory co-stimulatory signals for T cell activation, shifting the paradigm from IL-1 as the necessary T cell co-stimulatory signal. Targeting CD2 has greatly enhanced tolerance induction in transplant patients. His demonstration that CD3 signaling stimulates cytotoxic T cells (CTLs), memory T cells and natural killer cells, and his discovery of cell-surface expression of TNF-alpha by CTLs materially stimulated the development of therapeutics targeting CD3 and TNF- alpha in patients with organ grafts, type 1 diabetes, psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis. Suthanthiran’s discovery that cyclosporine and tacrolimus stimulate hyperexpression of TGF-beta1 identified the primary mechanism for calcineurin inhibitor nephrotoxicity and hypertension, provided the rationale for calcineurin inhibitor avoidance or minimization in organ transplantation, and uncovered an autonomous cellular mechanism for cancer progression in organ graft recipients. Suthanthiran introduced the competitive quantitative polymerase chain reaction assay, and applied it innovatively to characterize allograft status. He went on to develop noninvasive nucleic acid-based protocols for personalized management of allograft recipients.
PRINCIPAL HONORS, AWARDS, LEADERSHIP POSITIONS AND SOCIETIES: President, American Society of Transplant Physicians (1993–1994); Board of Directors, United Network for Organ Sharing (1994– 1996); Editor, Transplantation (1997–2014); Consulting Editor, Kidney International (1995–2005); Established Investigator Award, American Society of Transplant Physicians (1997); Lifetime Achievement Award, Indian Society of Transplantation (1997); Stanton Griffis Distinguished Professor (1999– ); Pioneer in Medicine Award, National Kidney Foundation (2001); Distinguished Achievement Award, American Society of Transplantation (2003); NIH MERIT Award (NIAID 2009-); Maharishi Sushruta Pioneer in Transplantation Award (2011); Recipient of the Top 10 Outstanding Clinical Research Achievement in the United States, awarded by the Clinical Research Forum (2014); American Society of Transplantation Mentoring Award (2014); Jean Hamburger Award of the International Society of Nephrology (2015). Ongoing Awards (PI only): NIH MERIT Award R37 AI51652 (PI); NIH UH2/UH3 TR000933 (MPI); Department of Defense W81XWH15-2-0036 (MPI); and Qatar National Research Foundation (Co-PI).
Chair, Mechanistic Studies Committee for Cooperative Clinical Trials in Pediatric Transplantation, NIH/NIAID (2003–2009); Chair Mechanistic Studies Committee for Cooperative Clinical Trials in Transplantation, NIH/NIAID (2005–2009); Member, Clinical Islet Transplantation Data and Safety Monitoring Board, NIH/NIDDK (2007-) ; Member, ALTOLD Expert Panel, NIH/NIDDK (2011-2016); Councilor, The Transplantation Society (2006–2010); Consultant, FDA Advisory Subcommittee (1995– ); Chair, Program Committee, American Society of Nephrology (2012); Member, Transplantation, Tolerance, Immunology Study Section, NIH (2010–2013); American Association of Immunologists; American Clinical and Climatological Association; American Society of Clinical Investigation; American Society of Nephrology; American Society of Transplantation; Association of American Physicians; and The Transplantation Society.
