I received my Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Purdue University. Duringmy postdoctoral fellowship at National Cancer Institute (NCI), my researchfocused on better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying HIVintegration and the action of antiretroviral drugs targeting HIV integration.As a Research fellow at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, I analyzed and characterized the early events ofthe HIV life cycle, specifically those involving reverse transcription anduncoating of the viral capsid. I am currently a Project Manager inthe Biomedical Research Education and Training Office of Outcomes Research atVanderbilt University.

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·     Varadarajan, J., McWilliams, M.J., and Hughes, S.H. 2013. Treatment with suboptimal doses of Raltegravir leads to aberrant HIV-1 integrations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110 (36):14747-14752

Article Featured in the “In This Issue” section of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Zeliadt, N. 2013. Suboptimal doses ofantiretroviral drug induce aberrant HIV-1 integration. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 110(36): 14505. https://www.pnas.org/content/110/36/14505

Highlighted in the National CancerInstitute-Center for Cancer Research’s “In the Journals” featuring articles reported in top journals. Suboptimal doses of Raltegravir cause aberrant HIV-1 integrations. Hanson, M. 2013 (August). In the Journals-Center for Cancer Research.

·      Varadarajan, J., McWilliams, M.J., Mott, B.T., Thomas, C.J., Smith, S., and Hughes, S.H. 2016. Drug resistant integrase mutants cause aberrant HIV integrations. Retrovirology 13, 71.doi:10.1186/s12977-016-0305-6

·   Varadarajan,J., Guilleminot, J., Saint-Jore-Dupas, C., Piégu, B., Chabouté, M.-E.,Gomord, V., Coolbaugh, R.C., Devic, M., and Delorme, V. 2010. ATR3encodes a diflavin reductase essential for Arabidopsis embryo development. New Phytologist, 187: 67–82.

·     Rankovic, S., Varadarajan,J., Ramalho, R., Aiken, C., and Rousso, I. 2017. Reverse Transcription Mechanically Initiates HIV-1 Capsid Disassembly. Journal of virology, 91(12),e00289-17. doi:10.1128/JVI.00289-17.

·       Jennings, J., Shi,J., Varadarajan, J., Jamieson, P.J., and Aiken, C. 2020. The hostcell metabolite inositol hexakisphosphate promotes efficient endogenous HIV-1reverse transcription by stabilizing the viral capsid. mBio11:e02820-20.