Suresh K. Alahari

FACULTY

Suresh K. Alahari, PhD, FAAS, FASCB

Fred G. Brazda Professor

Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

salaha@lsuhsc.edu
Medicine

Office:

LSUHSC School of Medicine
533 Bolivar Street, Room 623D
New Orleans, LA 70112

504-568-4734

Bio

Dr. Alahari obtained his Bachelor of Science in Biology and Master of Science in Human Genetics from India in 1983 and 1986 respectively. His Ph.D. in Molecular Biology was awarded by Drexel University, Philadelphia in the year 1994. From 1994 to 1998, Dr. Alahari did a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Since 1998, he has been a faculty member at the University of North Carolina and in 2004 joined the LSUHSC as Associate Professor of the Department of Biochemistry. During his tenure at the University of North Carolina, he discovered a novel protein that he termed, Nischarin. Dr. Alahari has published several papers describing the function of Nischarin. He has served on editorial review boards and study sections. In addition he availed visiting professorships at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia and Rockefeller University, New York. Currently he is a full tenured and endowed professor of Biochemistry.

Education

PhD - 1994
Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

Publications

For full list of publications, see this link.

Recent Publications:

1) Guo, Z., Dong, R.W., Wu, Y., Dong. S., and Alahari, S.K*. Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 4 and 6 Inhibitors in Breast Cancer Treatment (2025) Oncogene 44:1135-1152.

2) Singh, P.S., Pathak, R., Pandit, A., Kumar, A., Chintalaramulu, N., Yousefian, G., Dharmakumar, R., Alahari, S.K., and Francis, J. Aberrant regulation of Caveolin-1 in breast cancer metastasis (2025) Molecular Cancer 24:109.

3) Hawes, M., Moody, M.A., McCauley, C.R., Huddleston, A.G., Solanky, M., Khosravi, D.H., Lynch, R.M., Alahari, S.K., Bunnell, B.A., Belogodere, J.A., Hoang, V.T., Burow, M. E and Martin, E.C. Oncogenic effects of ECM remodeling in obesity and breast cancer (2025) Oncogene 44:3409-3421.

4) Cullen, N.M., Rosston, P., Tufail, B., D’Armond, A.E., patel, A., Khosravi, D.H., Collins-Burow, B.M., Hoang, V.T., Martin, E.C., Drewery, D.H., Burow, M.E. and Alahari, S.K*. NUAK kinases: Signaling mechanisms and therapeutic applications (2025) Journal of Biological Chemistry 301:110565.

5) Mhmedi, E.C and Hube F., Alahari, S.K., Enguita, F.J., Padini, B., Feinberg, M.W., Poliseno, L and others. Editorial, The Non-Coding RNA Club:Highlights on recent papers -14 (2025) Non-Coding RNA 11(6):75.

6) Solanki, M., Khosla, M., and Alahari, S.K. Assessing the tumor suppressive impact and regulatory mechanisms of SPDEF expression in breast cancer (2025). Cancers 17(21):3556.

7) Peddireddi, R., Kuchana, S., Kode, R., Khammammettu, S., Koppanathan, A., Mattigiri, S., Gobburu, H and Alahari, S.K*. Role of gut microbiome in Oncogenesis and Oncotherapies (2025) Cancers 18(1):99.

Research

Dr. Alahari’s lab conducts research on various aspects of cancer including understanding the role of Nischarin, a novel protein discovered by him, and microRNAs in breast cancer. Recently his lab discovered four different novel small molecules that are effective in breast cancer therapies, and they are currently being tested in animal models.

Some of the major discoveries of his lab are as follows:

Research conducted by Dr. Alahari, has found that metformin, a commonly prescribed drug for Type 2 Diabetes, may be effective in treating cancers that lack a protein called Nischarin. The discovery that the effectiveness of certain drugs, such as metformin, are influenced by the level of Nischarin expression could help identify specific patients in whom it is most likely to prove beneficial. In this way, Nischarin expression could serve as a biomarker to help inform decisions in management by identifying a subset of patients most likely to benefit from AMPK activator therapies. Also, his lab research suggests Nischarin may be a promising therapeutic target to treat or prevent metabolic disorders. The study also reported for the first-time metabolic distinctions between male and female mice. These results were published in Cancer Research, International Journal of Obesity, International Journal of Cancer and Journal of Biological Chemistry.
In addition, Dr. Alahari’s lab has shown for the first time that a tiny piece of RNA (miR-27b)deregulates energy metabolism, an emerging hallmark of cancer. The finding identifies a new target for therapeutic intervention in breast cancer and the findings were published in Molecular Cancer.
Furthermore, Dr. Alahari’s lab has shown that a combination of drugs already approved by the FDA for other cancers may be effective in treating chemo-resistant triple-negative breast cancer. These findings were published in Molecular Cancer and Oncogene Journals.

Interests include:

Biochemistry of cell adhesion
The mechanism of action of Nischarin in tumor cell migration and invasion
Understanding the role of microRNAs in breast cancer
Understanding the role of PDEF in breast cancer

Lab News

News from Alahari lab:

Abigail Rink (Medical Student) - Received the LSU LCMC Health Cancer Center Travel Award for Cancer Research (Freshman/Sophomore Category)

Abigail Rink (Medical Student)
Presenting at the Medical Student Research Symposium 10/30/25

Abigail Rink Travel Award

Ethan Littlefield (Medical Student)
Presenting at the Medical Student Research Symposium 10/30/25

Lockley McElory (Summer Student)
Presenting at the LCRC Summer Research Symposium 07/24/25

Dr. Suresh Alahari Elected as One of 14 ASCB 2021 Fellows

LSU HEALTH'S ALAHARI NAMED 2020 AAAS FELLOW

Metformin Discovery

Nischarin Discovery

Nischarin Discovery 2018

LSU Researchers make discovery with potential to cure obesity diabetes

Research identifies new breast cancer therapeutic target

Alahari featured in journal of biological chemistry

Media

Dr. Alahari was interviewed by various TV channels multiple times to talk about his laboratory cancer research and his research news was cited in many international newspapers. Some of the links are given below:

https://www.nola.com › news › healthcare_hospitals

https://www.eurekalert.org › pub_releases › lsuh-lhr091919

https://www.trialsitenews.com › Cancer

https://kpel965.com › link-found-between-diabetes-medicine-cancer-rates

https://wwl.radio.com › articles › diabetes-medication-may-also-treat-breast...

https://www.docwirenews.com › DocWire Picks

https://ruthfulmore.wordpress.com › 2019/09/20 › research-metformin-ma...

https://agenparl.eu › lsu-health-research-targets-metformin-as-breast-cancer...

https://louisianaradionetwork.com/2019/09/23/lsu-research-finds-link-between-diabetes-medicine-lower-cancer-rates/

https://www.lsuhsc.edu/newsroom/Research%20to%20Advance%20Cancer%20Therapy.html

https://www.clinicalomics.com/articles/novel-protein-plays-role-in-preventing-breast-cancer-growth-and-spread/2082

https://www.upi.com/Researchers-discover-new-protein-to-fight-breast-cancer/2981547232004/