Nilam Mangalmurti, MD, is an Associate Professor in the Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine. She earned a BA in Biology and South Asian Studies from the University of Pennsylvania and an MD from Temple University. After completing internal medicine training at New York University, she specialized in Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Mangalmurti’s research program focuses on the immune functions of red blood cells, investigating how they maintain organismal homeostasis and contribute to disease when disrupted. A long-term goal of her lab is to leverage these immune functions for clinical applications. Her lab made the seminal discovery that red blood cells express the nucleic acid-sensing pattern recognition receptor, TLR9, and sequester cell-free DNA. The lab uses in vitro model systems, organ-on-a-chip technology, clinical specimens, and novel erythroid-specific PRR-deficient mice to explore the immunomodulatory role of red blood cells in inflammatory syndromes. Her laboratory has been funded by the NIH, DOD, American Lung Association, and National Blood Foundation.