Sai Sudha Koka

Heart Researcher Returns to UHCOP as Associate Professor in Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences Department

Oct. 31 — The University of Houston College of Pharmacy recently welcomed the return of Sai Sudha Koka, Ph.D., FAHA, R.Ph., as an associate professor of pharmacology in the Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Koka completed her master and bachelor of pharmacy degrees at Andhra University in India, then earned her Ph.D. in pharmacology and toxicology from Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen in Germany. Koka completed postdoctoral training at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., and obtained her pharmacist license in Virginia.

She served as an research assistant professor at UHCOP from 2016 to 2021 before joining Arkansas College of Osteopathic Medicine as an assistant professor and later Texas A&M University (TAMU) Irma Lerma Rangel College of Pharmacy as an associate professor at the Kingsville campus.

Koka investigates the cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive cardiometabolic disorders, with the goal of developing new pharmacologic strategies to prevent and treat cardiovascular diseases such as atherosclerosis in diabetic, obese and aging populations. She brings extensive expertise in diverse experimental models, including ischemia-reperfusion injury, diabetic cardiomyopathy, atherosclerosis and endothelial dysfunction. Her current research explores how gut microbe–derived metabolites contribute to endothelial and vascular dysfunction and inflammation.

Koka’s research has been supported by grants from the American Heart Association (AHA), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and intramural grants from Arkansas Colleges of Health Education, TAMU and UH. Her accolades include a TAMU Faculty Research Award in 202, and the Association of Scientists of Indian Origin in America (ASIOA) Distinguished Service Award and Young Scientist Award in 2024 and 2019, respectively. Her AHA honors include Fellow designation, the Donna Garff Marriott Research Award and a postdoctoral fellowship. Koka was a member of the UH Teaching Excellence Award for Group Teaching team in 2018. 

Koka has authored or coauthored over 50 peer-reviewed publications in such journals as Aging, Cells, Redox Biology, Basic Research in Cardiology, PNAS, Nature Medicine, Journal of Clinical investigation, and American Journal of Physiology – Heart and Circulatory Physiology. Koka has presented at seminars across the U.S. for such organizations as the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, the North American Section of International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences, American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy, and ASIOA. 

Koka has mentored over 40 students from undergraduate students to postdoctoral fellows. Among her many service activities, Koka is a NIH and AHA grant reviewer, Executive Committee member and Programming Chair for Cardiovascular Pharmacology Division of ASPET, secretary of ASIOA, council member of IACS, and AACP graduate SIG committee member, to name a few. She holds memberships in the AHA, AACP, ASPET, ASIOA, and American Physiological Society.

— Kristin Marie Mitchener