From India to Brookings: One grad student's path to make a world of difference in virology
When you ask Ramchander Nadipelly what brought him halfway across the world to pursue a Ph.D. in virology, he doesn’t begin with academic accolades or career ambitions.
Instead, the graduate research assistant in the Department of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences at ĢƵ starts with a memory, one that changed the course of his research entirely.
Nadipelly grew up in a remote farming village in India, where livestock were not just animals but the foundation of a family’s livelihood. As the first in his family to pursue higher education and a Ph.D. program, he carried that agricultural heritage with him into veterinary school. But it wasn’t until his first year as a practicing veterinarian that he discovered the direction his career would take.
Shortly after graduating with his veterinary degree, Nadipelly found himself in the middle of a devastating outbreak of lumpy skin disease, a viral infection that swept through local dairy herds. Farmers were losing animals, income and hope. The situation was chaotic and answers were scarce.
As an emergency response veterinarian with GVK Pvt. Ltd. in India, he helped investigate the outbreak.
“We were clueless about what was happening in the field, and I had the opportunity to investigate it, which sparked my interest in research,” he said. “After extensive efforts, we found it was a viral disease and that no vaccine was available at the time to control it.”
That realization — seeing firsthand how the absence of scientific knowledge could harm farming communities — left a lasting impact on him.
Then came the COVID-19 pandemic, which further solidified his direction. Nadipelly said that after the pandemic hit the world, he felt it was his turn to enter virology research. He then joined the research team at Bharat Biotech and studied different viruses, but mainly SARS-CoV-2, which shook the world starting in 2019.
“This passion directed me to continue my journey to the USA to join research and gain expertise in virology at ĢƵ under Dr. Sunil Mor’s guidance,” he said.
At SDSU, Nadipelly focuses on porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), one of the most economically significant diseases affecting the United States’ swine industry. He has conducted research that focuses on host-pathogen interactions, vaccine efficacy and immune profiling. He has applied next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics to analyze transcriptomic and genomic profiles of PRRSV-infected tissues and has even successfully developed 3D porcine respiratory organoid models (lung, tracheal and bronchial tissues) in accordance with 3Rs principles: replacement, reduction and refinement.
These organoid models, miniature, lab-grown versions of respiratory tissues, allow for more precise study of viral infections while reducing the need for live animals. This approach aligns with the 3Rs principles, an increasingly important standard in animal research.
Nadipelly’s work has already earned recognition beyond SDSU. He has presented at major conferences, including this year’s North American PRRS Symposium in Chicago, where he received the David Benfield Award and the Promega Travel Award. In 2024 and 2025, he also presented at the Leman Swine Conference in Minneapolis. These achievements highlight both the scientific rigor and the practical relevance of his work.
What makes Nadipelly’s journey compelling is the thread that connects his past to his present. His early experiences in a farming community, the outbreak that revealed the urgent need for better disease control and the global pandemic that underscored the importance of virology all shaped his path.
Today, his research at SDSU supports producers in South Dakota and beyond — mirroring the communities he grew up with and the farmers he first served as a young veterinarian.
Nadipelly’s story is a reminder that behind every research advancement is a person whose lived experiences fuel their commitment to solving real-world problems. His journey, from a small village in India to the laboratories of SDSU, embodies the human side of scientific progress.
