Principal Investigator
Shruthi Mahalingaiah, M.D., M.S.
Dr. Shruthi Mahalingaiah is an Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility. She has a long standing appreciation of the benefits of a clean, balanced, and resilient environment on promoting health. Her lab group at Boston University School of Medicine/Boston Medical Center focuses on identifying environmental exposures and modifiable risk factors in the pathogenesis of polycystic ovary syndrome. She is currently funded on the Reproductive Scientist Training Program, RSDP K12, and was previously supported as a Scholar on the Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health (BIRCWH) program to study air pollution and risk of gynecologic disease incidence. Her current research focuses on environmental exposure and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) incidence, severity, metabolic sequelae, and risk modification.
During her trips to India to visit family, she was struck by the increasing level of air pollution, poorly regulated vehicular exhaust, burning trash, and general levels of litter. At the same time, there was an increase in the number of infertility and gynecologic laparoscopy clinics that had proliferated in her birth town. These observations are what led her to pursue her current research.
Dr. Mahalingaiah was born in India and immigrated to Connecticut with her family at an early age. She continued her learning at Middlebury College in Vermont. Prior to medical school, supported by a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, she lived in Bali and the Ecuadorian Amazon Basin studying the role of ritual in the healing process. She attended Harvard Medical School and completed her residency in the OB/GYN Combined Program at Brigham and Women’s/Massachusetts General Hospital. After completing her fellowship in Reproductive Endocrinology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, she joined the faculty at Boston University School of Medicine. She recently completed her Masters of Science in Epidemiology program at Boston University School of Public Health. Dr. Mahalingaiah has three daughters – two of which are identical twins.
Lab Members
Pascaline W. Karanja
Pascaline W. Karanja, B.A., is a M.S. student at Boston University School of Medicine. She graduated from Boston University in May 2017 with a B.A. in Biology and a Minor in Psychology. Pascaline is now fulfilling the thesis component of her M.S. in Medical Sciences degree with the Mahalingaiah Lab as a research assistant. Her current responsibilities include supporting the progress of the lab’s Validation study of an Androgen Excess score and its patient recruitment. As someone who was born in a country (Kenya) where a large percent of the population is medically underserved, in the future she hopes to advocate for those that would otherwise not receive quality medical care, especially children and women. She believes that participating in research will help her become a physician that is open to innovation and receptive to new research findings allowing her to provide her patients with the best medical care available.
Erika M. Rodriguez
Erika Rodriguez is currently pursuing a M.S. in Medical Sciences program at Boston University School of Medicine. She graduated from New York University in 2017, earning her B.S. by completing a major in Global Public Health and a Chemistry minor. Sparked by her coursework in public health, she has been interested in the impact of environmental risk factors on women’s health. In the future she hopes to pursue a career in medicine working with either women or children. She is currently working as a research assistant in the Mahalingaiah lab focusing primarily on the Ovulation and Menstruation Health Study. Her responsibilities include contributing to the collaboration with menstruation and women’s health mobile applications.
