Staff Profile

Dr. Luke Elizabeth Hanna

Designation: Scientist F

Division/Unit: Virology & Biotechnology

Email: lukeelizebath[dot]hanna[at]icmr[dot]gov[dot]in

Educational Qualification

M.Sc., Ph.D.,

Personal Statement

I have a specialization in Immunology with additional training in Molecular Virology. I have over 30 years of research experience and currently Head the Department of Virology & Biotechnology. My research interests include identification of predictive biomarkers for progression to TB, identification of factors contributing to increased risk for TB in HIV-infected persons and post-TB immunological sequelae. I also work on HIV and dengue virus and am in-charge of the Regional Reference Lab for NACO for molecular testing, TB biorepository and medical college level VRDL. I have published over 130 research papers and successfully administered several funded projects. I have mentored a number of budding scientists including doctoral and post-doctoral fellows as well as graduate students. Research has always excited me and I endeavor to contribute to society through my work.

Research Focus

• Biomarker discovery for TB progression

• Immune response to HIV-TB co-infection

• Immunosenescence in cured TB patients

• Development of peptidomimetic inhibitors against HIV

• Antigenic characterization of circulating dengue virus strains

Ongoing projects as Principal investigator

• Role of persistent immune activation and systemic inflammation on accelerated
immune senescence and increased mortality in successfully treated and cured TB
patients (ICMR Adhoc)
• An integrative biomarker discovery and validation approach to aid the
development of point-of-care tests for Tuberculosis (ICMR Intramural)
• Pan-India antigenic characterization of dengue viruses: early warning signal for
a potential pandemic (PM ABHIM)
• Prospective Multicenter Evaluation of feasibility and performance of blood-based
Triage Testfor Tuberculosis in Intended settings of Use (ICMR Task Force)
• Setting up of Medical College Level Viral Diagnostic Laboratory under the scheme
entitled “Establishment of a Network of Laboratories for Managing Epidemics and
Natural Calamities” (DHR)
• Development of therapeutic broadly neutralizing monoclonal antibodies against
circulating HIV-1 clade C in children and adults (DBT)
• RePORT India Phase II Interim Central Biorepository (DBT)
• Regional Reference Laboratory for HIV-1 viral load and DNA-PCR (NACO)

Significant Publications

1. QuantiFERON supernatant-based host biomarkers predicting progression to active tuberculosis disease among household contacts of tuberculosis patients. Daniel EA, Thiruvengadam K, Rajamanickam A, Chandrasekaran P, Pattabiraman S, Bhanu B, Sivaprakasam A, Paradkar M, Kulkarni V, Karyakarte R, Shivakumar SVBY, Mave V, Gupta A, Babu S, Hanna LE. Clin Infect Dis. 2022 Dec 30: ciac979. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciac979.
2. Plasma Immune Biomarkers Predictive of Progression to Active Tuberculosis in Household Contacts of TB Patients. Rajamanickam A, Ann Daniel E, Dasan B, Thiruvengadam K, Chandrasekaran P, Gaikwad S, Pattabiraman S, Bhanu B, Sivaprakasam A, Kulkarni V, Karyakarte R, Paradkar M, Shivakumar SVBY, Mave V, Gupta A, Hanna LE, Babu S. J Infect Dis. 2024 Jul 19: jiae365. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiae365.
3. Predictive Markers of Incident Tuberculosis in Close Contacts in Brazil and India. Nogueira BMF, Rangel F, Andrade AMS, Daniel EA, Figueiredo MC, Staats C, Rolla VC, Kritski AL, Cordeiro-Santos M, Gupta A, Hanna LE, Sterling TR, Araújo-Pereira M, Andrade BB; RePORT Brazil and RePORT India Consortia. J Infect Dis. 2025 Jan 7: jiae642. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiae642.
4. Predictive metabolite signatures for risk of progression to active TB from QuantiFERON supernatants of household contacts of TB patients. Daniel EA, Upadhyay S, Selvachithiram M, Pattabiraman S, Bhanu B, Sivaprakasam A, Kulkarni V, Karyakarte R, Gaikwad S, Paradkar M, Yogendra Shivakumar SVB, Mave V, Gupta A, Prasad K, Hanna LE. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2025; 14(1):2437242. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2024.2437242.
5. MicroRNAs as diagnostic biomarkers for Tuberculosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Daniel EA, Sathiyamani B, Thiruvengadam K, Vivekanandan S, Vembuli H, Hanna LE. Front Immunol. 2022 Sep 27; 13:954396. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.954396.
6. Experimental models for HIV latency and molecular tools for reservoir quantification-an update. Angamuthu D, Vivekanandan S, Hanna LE. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2023 Nov 15: e0001323. doi: 10.1128/cmr.00013-23.
7. Design of human immunodeficiency virus-1 neutralizing peptides targeting CD4-binding site: An integrative computational biologics approach. Vivekanandan S, Vetrivel U, Hanna LE. Front Med (Lausanne). 2022 Nov 18; 9:1036874. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.1036874.
8. Trans cohort metabolic reprogramming towards glutaminolysis in long-term successfully treated HIV-infection. Mikaeloff F, Svensson Akusjärvi S, Ikomey GM, Krishnan S, Sperk M, Gupta S, Magdaleno GDV, Escós A, Lyonga E, Okomo MC, Tagne CT, Babu H, Lorson CL, Végvári Á, Banerjea AC, Kele J, Hanna LE, Singh K, de Magalhães JP, Benfeitas R, Neogi U. Commun Biol. 2022 Jan 11;5(1):27. doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-02985-3.
9. Baseline IL-6 is a biomarker for unfavorable tuberculosis treatment outcomes: a multi-site discovery and validation study. Gupte AN, Kumar P, Araújo-Pereira M, Kulkarni V, Paradkar M, Pradhan N, Menon P, Chandrasekaran PD, Hanna LE, Yogendra Shivakumar SVB, Rockwood N, Du Bruyn E, Karyakarte R, Gaikwad S, Bollinger R, Golub J, Gupte N, Viswanathan V, Wilkinson RJ, Mave V, Babu S, Kornfeld H, Andrade BB, Gupta A. Eur Respir J. 2021 Oct 28:2100905. doi: 10.1183/13993003.00905-2021.
10. Host Lipidome and Tuberculosis Treatment Failure. Shivakoti R, Newman JW, Hanna LE, Queiroz ATL, Borkowski K, Gupte AN, Paradkar M, Satyamurthi P, Kulkarni V, Selva M, Pradhan N, Shivakumar SVBY, Natarajan S, Karunaianantham R, Gupte N, Thiruvengadam K, Fiehn O, Bharadwaj R, Kagal A, Gaikwad S, Sangle S, Golub JE, Andrade BB, Mave V, Gupta A, Padmapriyadarsini C. Eur Respir J. 2021 Jun 17:2004532. doi: 10.1183/13993003.04532-2020.