{"id":127293,"date":"2025-11-06T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-11-06T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/?p=127293"},"modified":"2025-11-05T16:41:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-05T22:41:11","slug":"dr-byrareddy-elevates-the-importance-of-team-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.unmc.edu\/newsroom\/2025\/11\/06\/dr-byrareddy-elevates-the-importance-of-team-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Byrareddy elevates the importance of team science"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This profile is part of a series to highlight the researchers and leaders who will be honored at a ceremony today (Nov. 6) for UNMC\u2019s annual research awards \u2013 the prestigious Scientist Laureate Award and the Research Leadership, Distinguished Scientist, New Investigator, Career Achievement and Community Service to Research Awards.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Siddappa Byrareddy, PhD, will receive the highest honor that UNMC awards its researchers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet in being named UNMC\u2019s 20th<\/sup> Scientist Laureate, Dr. Byrareddy\u2019s thoughts immediately turn to the value of the team, collaboration \u2013 team science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Across the research enterprise at UNMC, Dr. Byrareddy already is regarded as a leader \u2013 one of the most prolific investigators on campus, said Ken Bayles, PhD, UNMC\u2019s vice chancellor for research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his appointment as the Singer Professor of Microbial Pathogenesis and vice chair for research in the UNMC Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, Dr. Byrareddy is respected for his perseverance, resilience and dogged drive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet he sees his specialties a little differently. He sees in himself an ability to bring together a team of researchers to tackle complex issues. He has a willingness to listen to other researchers and help them think through their own ideas, and to offer support wherever possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Above all, he is driven by a desire to promote teamwork and collaboration \u2013 advancing scientific discovery and translating it into meaningful improvements in human health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m honored individually, but team science is where I\u2019ve practiced for a long, long time,\u201d said Dr. Byrareddy, who joined UNMC in 2016 and leads the Byrareddy Laboratory. \u201cThe future will be different \u2013 no single person can do everything alone anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even so, Dr. Byrareddy and his lab take on significant research challenges of their own \u2013 combating what his lab calls \u201csome of the most formidable microbes in human history.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That list includes HIV and AIDS, SARS-CoV-2, also known as COVID-19, and other emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, such as Dengue, Zika and M-pox. His current research includes HIV pathobiology and cure strategies, substance abuse, gut-brain connections and CAR-T cell targeted immunotherapy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His ability to conduct research across different fields is reflected in his lab\u2019s funding, spanning numerous National Institutes of Health \u2013 allergy and infectious diseases, mental health, drug abuse, and diabetes and digestive and kidney diseases. Those are all in addition to funding from the National Institutes of Health Office of the Director and private industry, foundation grants, numerous pilot grants from the University of Nebraska system and philanthropic support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through dynamic teaching, hands-on research opportunities and a strong commitment to mentorship, he strives to inspire students to explore science with curiosity and purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Byrareddy also believes in urgency \u2013 doing research in real time, publishing results quickly and disseminating scientific knowledge to the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

His rapid research on the COVID-19 pandemic reflected those traits. Within weeks of the virus\u2019 global spread, Dr. Byrareddy published research suggesting that SARS-CoV-2 was a mucosal virus, with larger implications for troubles that the virus would cause the human body. That early observation has since been validated over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Byrareddy also believes in the importance of open science, sharing and publishing research freely, often without holding full credit or patents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat matters is the impact,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, Dr. Byrareddy sees an opportunity for UNMC to take its research to the next level \u2013 encouraging researchers to approach their vital work with renewed focus and urgency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said UNMC has a lot of the research infrastructure, resources and researchers it needs to take its research further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He hopes to see stronger partnerships between basic researchers and clinicians, working together as a team to accelerate the translation of scientific discoveries into clinical solutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If we can bring these two groups together, hand in hand, we can address many of the world\u2019s most pressing health challenges.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNMC’s Scientist Laureates<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2006, UNMC has named 20 Scientist Laureates, making an impressive list of UNMC’s leading researchers. See the links on each name for the article that featured the Scientist Laureate and their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n