Bio:

Janani joined the Allen Institute in June 2022 as an Associate Scientific Project and Alliance Manager for Cell Science.

Janani received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees from SRM University and Anna University respectively, in Chennai, India. She pursued her PhD in Pharmacology in UW, Seattle. Her research led to an intriguing discovery, that loss of the A-Kinase Anchoring protein AKAP220, correlates with increased cilia formation and altered cilia morphology. Using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing to modify AKAP220 such that it does not anchor protein-phosphatase 1 (PP1), she found that this phosphatase plays an important role in cilia formation through its interaction with histone deacetylase 6 (HDAC6), the depolymerizer of primary cilia. Loss of AKAP220-anchored PP1 inactivates HDAC6 and this led to hyper ciliation.

Prior to joining the institute, Janani completed a year of postdoctoral training. Her research focused on epithelial mesenchymal transition. She found that AKAP220 scaffolding protein also regulates localization and expression of E cadherin and β4 integrin at cell-cell and cell-matrix adhesion sites. Further, loss of AKAP220 enhances focal adhesion complex formation and cell spreading.