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	Ranjan Perera, Ph.D. Associate Member, Curtis and Elizabeth Anderson Cancer Institute Department of Diagnostic Molecular Genetics Director, Research and Development Laboratory Associate Professor, Department Internal Medicine and Division of Basic Medical Science, Mercer University School of Medicine - Savannah Campus 912-350-0415 (phone) 912-350-1281 (fax) PererRa1@memorialhealth.com

Research Focus
The role of microRNA mutations in the development of certain types of cancer. Using skin cancer as a guide, Perera is studying the importance of changes or mutations in microRNAs and their relationship to target mRNAs in tumor suppressors, oncogenes, and/or DNA-repair genes that may be a factor in the development of cancer.

Biography
Ranjan J. Perera, Ph.D., is the director of genomics and the Research and Development Laboratory at the Hoskins Center. He received his Doctor of Philosophy in molecular genetics from Moscow State University in Russia. Perera came to Savannah from the Burnham Institute in La Jolla, Calif., where he was an adjunct faculty member. He was also the head of the epigenetic gene regulation group at the Invitrogen Corporation in Carlsbad, where he helped to develop and launch several products for genetic profiling and labeling. Before that, he was the director of genomics at Stowers Institute of Medical Research and an associate director of functional genomics at the ISIS Pharmaceuticals Corporation at Carlsbad. Perera holds many national and international patents. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and has earned grants from MIT and the Commission of the European Community. Perera has published many peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and abstracts. He also reviews articles for several prestigious scientific journals.

Recent Publications
Perera RJ, Koo S, Bennett CF, Dean NM, Jiang-Zhong Q, Gupta N, Nickoloff BJ. Defining the transcriptome of accelerated and replicatively senescent keratinocytes reveals links to differentiation, interferon signaling, and notch related pathways. J. Cell Biochem. 2006;98:2,394-408.

Perera RJ, Marcusson EG, Koo S, Kang X, Kim Y, White N, Dean NM. Identification of novel PPARgamma target genes in primary human adipocytes. Gene. 2006;369:90-99.

Crooke R, Graham M, Lemonidis K, Whipple C, Koo S, Perera RJ. An apolipoprotein B antisense oligonucleotide lowers LDL cholesterol in hyperlipidemic mice without causing hepatic steatosis. J. Lipid Res. 2005;46:874-884.

Drygin D, Koo S, Perera RJ, Barone S, Bennett CF. Induction of toll-like receptors and NALP/PAN/PYPAF family members by modified oligonucleotides in lung epithelial carcinoma cells. J. Oligonucleotide. 2005;5:2,105-118.

Sun Y, Koo S, White N, Peralta E, Esau C, Dean NM, Perera RJ. Development of a micro-array to detect human and mouse microRNAs and characterization of expression in human organs. Nucleic Acids Res. 2004;22:1-6.