Pooja Shivshankar, PhD

Biography

Dr. Pooja Shivshankar, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Gastroenterology Research Center, UTHealth Houston. She holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Madras, India, and later joined UTHealth San Antonio, Texas, USA, for postdoctoral training. She has extensive expertise in aging and infectious disease research. Her research centers on advanced complement immunology and immune dysregulation in autoimmune and infectious diseases. Her funded projects investigate complement-circadian interactions in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the inflammatory consequences of complement-mediated gut-vascular barrier disruption during aging. In addition to her research, she is actively engaged in teaching across multiple levels, from medical students to clinical fellows, and contributes to problem-based learning programs, and basic Immunology lectures. Outside of her academic pursuits, she enjoys sewing and gardening.