Rate My Professor Krishna Mallela

Krishna Mallela, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Associate Director of the Pharmaceutical Sciences Graduate Program at the Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. His academic journey began with a BSc in Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics from P.B. Siddhartha College of Arts and Science, Vijayawada, India, followed by an MSc in Chemistry from the Central University of Hyderabad, India. He obtained his PhD in Physical Chemistry from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India, in 1999, with a thesis on "Dynamics of Fluorescent Probes in Biological Systems." Subsequently, he served as a Postgraduate Researcher in Biophysics at the University of California, San Francisco, and as a Postdoctoral Research Associate and Research Assistant Professor in Biophysics and Biochemistry at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

In his Protein Stability, Folding, and Aggregation Laboratory, Mallela investigates the fundamental physical mechanisms governing protein stability, folding, and aggregation, particularly for disease-related proteins and biopharmaceuticals. His research encompasses the structure-function-disease relationships of dystrophin and utrophin in muscular dystrophies, such as Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy, where mutations destabilize these proteins leading to aggregation and disease. Key findings include how missense mutations decrease protein stability and induce cross-beta aggregates (PNAS, 2010) and the closed conformation of dystrophin's N-terminal actin-binding domain (Biophysical Journal, 2012). More recently, his team characterized the biophysical properties of the dystrophin C-terminal domain and its interactions with dystrobrevin isoforms, revealing tissue-specific differences that contribute to muscular dystrophy symptoms (Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2024). Additionally, Mallela studies excipient-induced aggregation in therapeutic proteins, such as the effects of benzyl alcohol and polysorbates, using advanced techniques like CD spectroscopy, NMR, ITC, and DSC. These efforts are part of the Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology.

Mallela's contributions extend to collaborations with industry and academia, earning an Industry Award from Cipla in 2023 for Characterization of Protein Biologics. His lab's research illustration was selected for the cover of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Through these works, he advances understanding of protein biophysics, informing the development of stable biopharmaceuticals and targeted therapies for muscular dystrophies.