Dr. Siricilla's research is focused on identifying novel therapeutic agents to manage infection-induced preterm birth and protecting the fetus against in-utero inflammation. The approaches include a large-scale screening of a customized library of molecules targeting the druggable transcriptome associated with infection-induced inflammation leading to preterm birth.

Dr. Siricilla's doctoral work focused on the discovery of novel antibacterial molecules with molecular targets against problematic pathogens such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and multidrug-resistant nosocomial pathogens. She joined the Herington Lab in 2017 as a postdoctoral fellow where Dr. Siricilla worked on projects entailing a phenotypic high-throughput screen of large compound libraries to identify novel small molecules and molecular targets that regulate uterine myometrial contractions with high selectivity. She has developed a combination high-throughput assay to identify synergistic drug combinations to improve their tocolytic efficacy and therapeutic index. She has identified a natural product, mundulone, and FDA-approved drugs with tocolytic efficacy in mono- and combination therapy with current tocolytics.

Dr. Neeraja Swaminathan is a pediatric hematologist with additional training and expertise in hemostasis, thrombosis and vascular anomalies. Following completion of her pediatric hematology oncology fellowship at the University of Iowa, she pursued an advanced fellowship in coagulation disorders and vascular anomalies at the University of Michigan. She joined the faculty at Vanderbilt in 2022. She co-directs the vascular anomalies program at Monroe Carrell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt, with colleagues from pediatric otolaryngology.

As a clinician, Dr. Swaminathan's focus is on the clinical care of patients with a variety of benign hematologic disorders, with a niche in bleeding disorders, thrombosis and vascular anomalies. She has been committed to growing vascular anomalies research from our center and is the site PI for the Consortium of iNvestigators in VAScular Anomalies (CaNVAS). She leads industry sponsored and consortium sponsored clinical trials for patients with vascular anomalies. She is engaged with the broader vascular anomalies’ community through collaborative research via the International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies (ISSVA) and the ASPHO Vascular Anomalies Special Interest Group (VA-SIG).

Dr. Swaminathan is one of two hematologists who lead the Vanderbilt pediatric hemophilia treatment center. As a researcher, she is involved with several industry sponsored and ATHN sponsored hemostasis studies for patients with bleeding disorders. Additionally, she is the site PI for our research efforts with the International Pediatric Thrombosis Network (IPTN). She has been closely engaged with the hemostasis working party of the ISTH pediatric and neonatal hemostasis/thrombosis sub-committee. Driven by her passion for women’s health, Dr. Swaminathan co-leads the women’s bleeding disorders clinic along with a gynecologist colleague. She has been involved in the work of the education and advocacy subcommittee of the Foundation for Women and Girls with Bleeding Disorders (FWGBD).

>> View Publications on Orcid