Assistant Professor
Duke University
Dr. Surana completed his undergraduate education at Indiana University where he received degrees in Biochemistry, Economics, and Biology. He subsequently received his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Washington University in St. Louis, where his doctoral work blended microbial pathogenesis, structural biology, and host-commensal interactions to elucidate mechanisms of protein secretion in gram-negative bacteria. After completing clinical training in general pediatrics and pediatric infectious diseases at Boston Children’s Hospital, Dr. Surana studied the nexus between the microbiota and the host immune system in the laboratory of Dennis Kasper at Harvard Medical School, where Dr. Surana was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics. Dr. Surana moved in 2018 to Duke University, where he is currently an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, and Immunology; he also serves as the Scientific Director for the Duke Gnotobiotic Core. The Surana lab innovatively integrates gnotobiotic murine models, immunology, and microbiology with the ultimate aim of identifying immunomodulatory commensal bacteria and subsequently characterizing their mechanism of action.