About me

I am docent /Associate Professor in Experimental Reproductive Medicine and working as Principal Researcher in the Department of Women's and Children's Health at Karolinska Institute. I lead Experimental Research team (https://ki.se/en/kbh/experimental-research) in understanding the molecular and cellular mechanism involved in different Gynaecological conditions. It's my privilege to be part of a larger group with Clinicians,  researchers working in basic science and global reproductive health, with the focus on Translational Research in Reproductive Health/ Reproductive Medicine (https://ki.se/en/kbh/research-in-reproductive-health-reproductive-medicine-0).

 

Research description

Main areas of Research

  • Endometrial regeneration and endometrial receptivity aiming at managing infertility 
  • Identifying good quality embryos (GQE) for assisted reproductive treatment (ART) based on molecular profile of embryo spent media
  • Develop non-invasive, molecular based method to identify receptive endometrium and good quality of embryos for clinical use in ART 
  • Endometriosis and endometriosis associated ovarian cancer (EAOC)
  • Effect of SARS-CoV-19 on placental gene expression

We use 2D and 3D cell culture, single cell RNA sequencing, smartseq2 / smartseq3, spatial transcriptomics and bioinformatic tools to understand the molecular profile and mechanisms involved in different physiological and pathophysiological conditions in female fertility. 

Few publications

1: von Grothusen C, Frisendahl C, Modhukur V, Lalitkumar PG, Peters M, Faridani OR, Salumets A, Boggavarapu NR, Gemzell-Danielsson K. Uterine fluid microRNAs are dysregulated in women with recurrent implantation failure. Hum Reprod. 2022 Apr 1;37(4):734-746. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deac019. PMID: 35147192; PMCID: PMC8971651.

2: Ponandai-Srinivasan S, Saare M, Boggavarapu NR, Frisendahl C, Ehrström S, Riethmüller C, García-Uribe PA, Rettkowski J, Iyengar A, Salumets A, Lalitkumar PGL, Götte M, Gemzell-Danielsson K. Syndecan-1 modulates the invasive potential of endometrioma via TGF-β signalling in a subgroup of women with endometriosis. Hum Reprod. 2020 Oct 1;35(10):2280-2293. doi: 10.1093/humrep/deaa164. PMID: 32897364.

3: Sardana P, Banker J, Gupta R, Kotdawala A, Lalitkumar PGL, Banker M. The Influence of Delayed Blastocyst Development on the Outcome of Frozen-Thawed Transfer of Euploid and Untested Embryos. J Hum Reprod Sci. 2020 Apr- Jun;13(2):155-161. doi: 10.4103/jhrs.JHRS_115_19. Epub 2020 Jul 9. PMID: 32792766; PMCID: PMC7394094.

4: Kasvandik S, Saarma M, Kaart T, Rooda I, Velthut-Meikas A, Ehrenberg A, Gemzell K, Lalitkumar PG, Salumets A, Peters M. Uterine Fluid Proteins for Minimally Invasive Assessment of Endometrial Receptivity. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2020 Jan 1;105(1):dgz019. doi: 10.1210/clinem/dgz019. PMID: 31512719.

5: Kotdawala AP, Mir P, Herrero J, Khajuria R, Lalitkumar PGL, Banker MR. Embryonic Aneuploidy after Preimplantation Genetic Screening: Age- and Indication-Matched Comparative Study between Indian and Spanish Population. J Hum Reprod Sci. 2019 Apr-Jun;12(2):141-149. doi: 10.4103/jhrs.JHRS_109_18. PMID: 31293329; PMCID: PMC6594127.

6: Banker M, Arora P, Banker J, Benani H, Shah S, Lalitkumar PGL. Prevalence of structural birth defects in IVF-ICSI pregnancies resulting from autologous and donor oocytes in Indian sub-continent: Results from 2444 births. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2019 Jun;98(6):715-721. doi: 10.1111/aogs.13541. Epub 2019 Feb 20. PMID: 30663773.

7: Ponandai-Srinivasan S, Lalitkumar PG, Garcia L, Varghese SJ, Carlson JW, Gemzell-Danielsson K, Floter Radestad A. Mifepristone mediates anti- proliferative effect on ovarian mesenchymal stem/stromal cells from female BRCA<sup>1-/2-</sup> carriers. Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2019 Feb;98(2):250-261. doi: 10.1111/aogs.13485. Epub 2018 Nov 15. PMID: 30325501.

8: von Grothusen C, Lalitkumar PG, Ruiz-Alonso M, Boggavarapu NR, Navarro R, Miravet-Valenciano J, Gemzell-Danielsson K, Simon C. Effect of mifepristone on the transcriptomic signature of endometrial receptivity. Hum Reprod. 2018 Oct 1;33(10):1889-1897. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dey272. PMID: 30137464.

9: Ponandai-Srinivasan S, Andersson KL, Nister M, Saare M, Hassan HA, Varghese SJ, Peters M, Salumets A, Gemzell-Danielsson K, Lalitkumar PGL. Aberrant expression of genes associated with stemness and cancer in endometria and endometrioma in a subset of women with endometriosis. Hum Reprod. 2018 Oct 1;33(10):1924-1938. doi: 10.1093/humrep/dey241. PMID: 30020448.

10: Altmäe S, Koel M, Võsa U, Adler P, Suhorutšenko M, Laisk-Podar T, Kukushkina V, Saare M, Velthut-Meikas A, Krjutškov K, Aghajanova L, Lalitkumar PG, Gemzell- Danielsson K, Giudice L, Simón C, Salumets A. Meta-signature of human endometrial receptivity: a meta-analysis and validation study of transcriptomic biomarkers. Sci Rep. 2017 Aug 30;7(1):10077. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-10098-3. PMID: 28855728; PMCID: PMC5577343.

11: Boggavarapu NR, Lalitkumar S, Joshua V, Kasvandik S, Salumets A, Lalitkumar PG, Gemzell-Danielsson K. Compartmentalized gene expression profiling of receptive endometrium reveals progesterone regulated ENPP3 is differentially expressed and secreted in glycosylated form. Sci Rep. 2016 Sep 26;6:33811. doi: 10.1038/srep33811. PMID: 27665743; PMCID: PMC5036034.