World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!
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Best Female Scientists
2025

D-Index & Metrics

Best Female Scientists

D-Index
133
Citations
81809
World Ranking
309
National Ranking
192

Immunology

D-Index
138
Citations
89823
World Ranking
170
National Ranking
113

Medicine

D-Index
138
Citations
89823
World Ranking
1802
National Ranking
1030

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2025 - Research.com Best Female Scientists Award
  • 2015 - AAI-BD Biosciences Investigator Award, American Association of Immunologists

Overview

Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti is affiliated with St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in the United States. Their research spans multiple domains within immunology, molecular biology, and medicine, contributing to a total of 179 publications in biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology; 135 in immunology and microbiology; and 85 in medicine. Their work includes a focus on subfields such as molecular biology, immunology, infectious diseases, epidemiology, and oncology.

Their primary areas of investigation involve the inflammasome and immune disorders, interferon and immune responses, immune response and inflammation, cell death mechanisms and regulation, heme oxygenase-1 and carbon monoxide, IL-33, ST2, and ILC pathways, as well as COVID-19 clinical research studies.

Kanneganti's scholarly contributions include a significant number of papers published in notable venues. They have published 12 papers in The Journal of Immunology, 8 in bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory), 7 in Trends in Immunology, 7 in Journal of Biological Chemistry, and 6 in Cell. Their frequent collaborators include R. K. Subbarao Malireddi, Rajendra Karki, Bhesh Raj Sharma, Peter Vogel, and Rebecca E. Tweedell.

Among recent publications, key papers include:

  • Synergism of TNF-α and IFN-γ Triggers Inflammatory Cell Death, Tissue Damage, and Mortality in SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Cytokine Shock Syndromes (2020) in Cell
  • NLRP3 inflammasome in cancer and metabolic diseases (2021) in Nature Immunology
  • Caspases in Cell Death, Inflammation, and Pyroptosis (2020) in Annual Review of Immunology
  • AIM2 forms a complex with pyrin and ZBP1 to drive PANoptosis and host defence (2021) in Nature
  • Innate immunity: the first line of defense against SARS-CoV-2 (2022) in Nature Immunology

Kanneganti's research topics display a strong emphasis on inflammation, immune signaling, mechanisms of cell death, and responses to infectious disease, particularly COVID-19. Their work addresses molecular pathways and regulatory mechanisms involved in immune defense and inflammatory disorders.

The scientist has been recognized with the AAI-BD Biosciences Investigator Award from the American Association of Immunologists in 2015.

Best Publications

  • Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

    Daniel J. Klionsky;Amal Kamal Abdel-Aziz;Sara Abdelfatah;Mahmoud Abdellatif

  • Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy

    Daniel J. Klionsky;Fabio C. Abdalla;Hagai Abeliovich;Robert T. Abraham

  • Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

    Daniel J. Klionsky;Kotb Abdelmohsen;Akihisa Abe;Joynal Abedin

  • Molecular mechanisms and functions of pyroptosis, inflammatory caspases and inflammasomes in infectious diseases.

    Si Ming Man;Rajendra Karki;Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti

  • Synergism of TNF-α and IFN-γ Triggers Inflammatory Cell Death, Tissue Damage, and Mortality in SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Cytokine Shock Syndromes

    Rajendra Karki;Bhesh Raj Sharma;Shraddha Tuladhar;Evan Peter Williams

  • Cytosolic flagellin requires Ipaf for activation of caspase-1 and interleukin 1β in salmonella-infected macrophages

    Luigi Franchi;Amal Amer;Mathilde Body-Malapel;Thirumala Devi Kanneganti

  • Bacterial RNA and small antiviral compounds activate caspase-1 through cryopyrin/Nalp3

    Thirumala Devi Kanneganti;Nesrin Özören;Mathilde Body-Malapel;Amal Amer

  • Intracellular NOD-like Receptors in Host Defense and Disease

    Thirumala Devi Kanneganti;Mohamed Lamkanfi;Gabriel Núñez

  • Regulation of inflammasome activation

    Si Ming Man;Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti

  • The NLRP3 inflammasome protects against loss of epithelial integrity and mortality during experimental colitis

    Md. Hasan Zaki;Kelli L. Boyd;Peter Vogel;Michael B. Kastan

  • NLRP3 inflammasome in cancer and metabolic diseases.

    Bhesh Raj Sharma;Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti

  • Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

    Daniel J. Klionsky;Kotb Abdelmohsen;Akihisa Abe;Joynal Abedin

  • Caspases in Cell Death, Inflammation, and Pyroptosis

    Sannula Kesavardhana;R.K. Subbarao Malireddi;Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti

  • The Intracellular Sensor NLRP3 Mediates Key Innate and Healing Responses to Influenza A Virus via the Regulation of Caspase-1

    Paul G. Thomas;Pradyot Dash;Jerry R. Aldridge;Ali H. Ellebedy

  • Molecular characterization of LC3-associated phagocytosis reveals distinct roles for Rubicon, NOX2 and autophagy proteins

    Jennifer Martinez;R. K.Subbarao Malireddi;Qun Lu;Larissa Dias Cunha

  • Critical Role for Cryopyrin/Nalp3 in Activation of Caspase-1 in Response to Viral Infection and Double-stranded RNA

    Thirumala Devi Kanneganti;Mathilde Body-Malapel;Amal Amer;Jong Hwan Park

  • Inflammasome is a central player in the induction of obesity and insulin resistance

    Rinke Stienstra;Janna A. Van Diepen;Cees J. Tack;Hasan Zaki

  • The cell biology of inflammasomes: Mechanisms of inflammasome activation and regulation

    Deepika Sharma;Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti

  • ZBP1/DAI is an innate sensor of influenza virus triggering the NLRP3 inflammasome and programmed cell death pathways

    Teneema Kuriakose;Si Ming Man;R. K. Subbarao Malireddi;Rajendra Karki

  • Toll-like receptor–induced arginase 1 in macrophages thwarts effective immunity against intracellular pathogens

    Karim C El Kasmi;Joseph E Qualls;John T Pesce;Amber M Smith

  • Pannexin-1-mediated recognition of bacterial molecules activates the cryopyrin inflammasome independent of Toll-like receptor signaling.

    Thirumala Devi Kanneganti;Mohamed Lamkanfi;Yun Gi Kim;Grace Chen

  • COVID-19 cytokines and the hyperactive immune response: Synergism of TNF-α and IFN-γ in triggering inflammation, tissue damage, and death.

    R. Karki;B. R. Sharma;S. Tuladhar;E. P. Williams

Frequent Co-Authors

Mohamed Lamkanfi
Mohamed Lamkanfi Ghent University
Peter Vogel
Peter Vogel St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Si Ming Man
Si Ming Man Australian National University
Mihai G. Netea
Mihai G. Netea Radboud University
Leo A. B. Joosten
Leo A. B. Joosten Radboud University
Douglas R. Green
Douglas R. Green St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Geoffrey Neale
Geoffrey Neale St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Frank L. van de Veerdonk
Frank L. van de Veerdonk Radboud University
Luigi Franchi
Luigi Franchi University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
Hongbo Chi
Hongbo Chi St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

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