My exposure to the field of cardiac neurodevelopment started when I was a medical student working in the laboratory of Dr. Hannah C. Kinney at Boston Children’s Hospital. Through this research work, which was carried out in collaboration with Drs. Jane Newburger, Richard Jonas, and Lynn Sleeper, we discovered that term neonates with complex congenital heart disease (CHD) have patterns of brain injury at autopsy that were similar to preterm brain injury. Understanding the in vivo neuroimaging correlates of this brain injury in CHD neonates, using advanced magnetic resonance brain imaging, was the basis for my past NIH K23 award. I have also extended my cardiac neurodevelopmental research by pursing studies that will examine the possible developmental etiology and genetic underpinnings for poor neurodevelopment outcomes in HLHS patients via collaboration with Dr. Cecilia Lo. Our story starts with the recent recognition that congenital heart disease mouse mutants and human CHD neonates have evidence of subtle brain dysplasia that were overlooked over the last decade because of the focus on brain injury in this. I am also currently a PI on a multi-center R01 grant with the Pediatric Heart Network for studying brain connectome techniques in the single-ventricle HLHS patients as part of the SVRIII 12 year outcomes study.

I have over 15 years of experience in applying advanced MR techniques to the study of fetal/neonatal/pediatric brain development and injury and will be leveraging an on-going longitudinal complex CHD brain imaging study between Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA). I have deep administrative and research mentoring experience, having been appointed the Radiologist-in-Chief at CHP since 2009. In this capacity, I supervise a department of 23 faculty members. Since relocating to CHP, I have developed the Pediatric Research Imaging Center at CHP to provide core clinical imaging research resources and infrastructure for faculty research at CHP and to support and promote multi-institutional neuroimaging studies. In addition to my clinical responsibilities, I manage a large research group of my own composed of research scientists (MR physicist and imaging bioinformatics), cardiology faculty/trainees, neonatology faculty/trainees, graduate students and research coordinators.

Panigrahy A, Schmithorst VJ, Wisnowski JL, Watson CG, Bellinger DC, Newburger JW, Rivkin MJ. Relationship of white matter network topology and cognitive outcome in adolescents with d-transposition of the great arteries. Neuroimage Clin. 2015;7:438-48. PubMed PMID: 25685710; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4318874.

Schmithorst VJ, Panigrahy A, Gaynor JW, Watson CG, Lee V, Bellinger DC, Rivkin MJ, Newburger JW. Organizational topology of brain and its relationship to ADHD in adolescents with d-transposition of the great arteries. Brain Behav. 2016 Aug;6(8):e00504. PubMed PMID: 27547505; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4980474.

B. Positions and Honors

Positions and Employment

Other Experience and Professional Memberships

Ongoing Research Support

1 R34 DA050290-01 &

3 R34 DA050290-01S1                                  Panigrahy, Krans & Luna (Co-PIs) 09/30/2019 – 03/29/2021

National Institutes of Health/NIDA

Investigation of Opioid Exposure and Neurodevelopment (iOPEN)

The prevalence of opioid use disorder during pregnancy has quadrupled over the past decade. Understanding the complex associations between prenatal opioid use and child neurodevelopment requires carefully coordinated, multidisciplinary efforts and high-level expertise. This collaborative Phase I proposal will set the foundation for a Phase II study to identify protective and resiliency factors that may inform early interventions for pregnant women and young children experiencing a range of adverse exposures.

R01 HL128818-04S1                                      Panigrahy (PI)                                   09/15/2018 – 08/31/2019

National Institutes of Health (NIA)

SVR III: Brain Connectome and Neurodevelopment Outcomes

This administrative supplement will help to elucidate the manner in which interactions between APOE genotyping and adolescent HLHS brain abnormalities give rise to cognitive-behavioral phenotypes by leveraging the NHLBI-funded PHN SVR III study.

R01 EB024408-01A1                                     Hetherington (PI)                              09/01/2018 – 05/31/2022

National Institutes of Health/NIBIB

Fast Targeted Spectroscopy Imaging for Brain Tumor Imaging at 3T and 7T

Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging (MRSI) has proven to provide unique information for the diagnosis and management of brain tumors, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and traumatic brain injury.  To overcome these limitations, we aim to develop a fast MRSI method (5-10min.).

Role:  Co-Investigator

R01 MH115466-01A1                                    Phillips (PI)                                        07/01/2018 – 06/30/2023

National Institutes of Health/NIMH

Caregiving Effects on the Early Development of Infant Brain-Behavior Relationships

We aim to examine prospective relationships among neural circuitry structure and intrinsic functional connectivity at 3 and 9 months, and change from 3 to 9 months, and: 3-18 month changes in emotional reactivity and regulation; and the influence of caregiving on these brain-emotional behavioral relationships.

Role:  Co-Investigator

R01 EB025032-02                                          LePore (PI)                                         09/22/2017 – 06/30/2021

National Institutes of Health/NIBIB

Predicting the Early Childhood Outcomes of Preterm Brain Shape Abnormalities

We will develop biomarkers of prematurity by statistically comparing the morphological and diffusion properties of subcortical structures between preterm and term neonates using brain MRI. These results will further be used in a sparse learning framework to predict long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes of prematurity.

Role:  Site PI (Overall Study Co-I)

W81XWH-16-1-0613                                      Lo & Panigrahy (Co-PIs)                 09/30/2016 – 09/29/2019

Department of Defense

Cilia Dysfunction, Brain Dysplasia, and Poor Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Congenital Heart Disease

In this application, we propose to investigate the novel hypothesis that ciliary dysfunction in CHD patients play a significant role in the pathogenesis of brain dysplasias and neurocognitive deficits, and thereby contribute to the poor neurodevelopmental outcome associated with CHD.

R01 ES016531-06                                          Haynes (PI)                                        09/30/2016 – 08/31/2021

National Institutes of Health/NIEHS

Developmental Effects of Manganese Exposure in Rural Adolescents:  The CARES Cohort Comes of Age

This overarching hypothesis will be addressed through two specific aims. Evaluate neurodevelopment with historic and current biomarkers of Mn in a cohort of rural adolescents to evaluate the impact of Mn from essential to excess on executive function, attention and reaction time, cognition, achievement, behavior, and neuromotor status.

Role:  Co-Investigator

U01 NS092764                                               Yanowitz (Site PI)                              09/30/2016 – 06/30/2022

National Institutes of Health

HEAL Study (High-Dose Erythropoietin for Asphyxia and Encephalopathy)

This study aims to determine whether Epo therapy (1000 U/kg given intravenously on days 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7) reduces the composite primary outcome of death or neurodevelopmental impairment at 22-26 months of age.

Role:  Co-Investigator

SPR_001                                                        Panigrahy (PI)                                   08/01/2016 – 01/31/2020

Society of Pediatric Radiology

SVR III:  Brain Connectome and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes

This study aims to provided additional funds to utilize the Tier 2 sites proposed in the original R01 to NIH.

R01 NS096714-03                                          Fink (PI)                                             06/01/2016 – 05/31/2021

National Institutes of Health/NINDS

Development of Serum, Imaging, and Clinical Biomarker Driven Models to Direct Clinical Management after Pediatric Cardiac Arrest

We propose to adapt and validate serum and imaging biomarkers of brain injury with empirical support.

Role:  Co-Investigator

R01 HL128818-04                                          Panigrahy (PI)                                   08/01/2015 – 04/30/2020

National Institutes of Health/NHLBI

SVR III:  Brain Connectome and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes

This proposal will address critical gaps in knowledge by relating alterations in brain networks to neurocognitive deficits in Fontan survivors. In doing so, it will not only provide vital data for understanding the impact of complex CHD on brain development but also the manner in which a developing neural architecture – the human connectome – gives rise to a cognitive-behavioral phenotype. This information will help validate brain network topology as a biomarker and will thus provide the basis for development of targeted interventions for specific behavioral and neuropsychiatric phenotypic deficits in relation to specific medical factors.

R01 MH105538-03                                         Wadhwa (PI)                                      06/19/2015 – 05/31/2020

National Institutes of Health/NIMH

Intergenerational Effects of Maternal Childhood Trauma on the Fetal Brain

Exposure to severe trauma in childhood such as physical or sexual abuse represents one of the most pervasive and pernicious stressors in society. Its sequelae, which may endure over the entire lifespan, include depression, PTSD, endocrine and immune function dysregulation, obesity, substance abuse, and increased likelihood of subsequent exposure to trauma in adulthood.

Role:  Co-Investigator

OVERLAP

None