Researcher Spotlight
From Mumbai to Brisbane and Liver to Lungs: How Dr Divya Ramnath is tackling inflammation and infection in Cystic Fibrosis.
Last month I had the chance to speak with Dr Divya Ramnath, one of the team working on the Think Zinc program this year.
Growing up in Mumbai, Divya really liked science at school especially biology but found that this wasn’t usually pursued by young women in India. Divya followed her passion first studying a science degree in Mumbai. Her fascination for how our bodies work led her to make the brave decision to leave her home and Country in 2007 and move to Australia to undertake a master’s degree. This is extraordinarily brave, as leaving home for university is one thing, moving Countries and cultures is quite a big leap. That is the nature of Divya’s passion and commitment to understanding more about biology. Now in 2025, we are fortunate to have Divya and the team from the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) at the University of Queensland working on a project for Cure4CF! Divya’s family still live in Mumbai, and she enjoys visiting them each year. Following on from her master’s studies, Divya went on to undertake a PhD which she completed in 2014. This project was studying inflammation of the skin and specifically skins cells called keratinocytes.
Divya worked in the IMB Centre for Inflammation and Disease Research, where she first started working on a project about chronic liver disease and trying to understand mechanisms involved in different conditions such as hepatitis C and fatty liver disease. Through understanding how inflammation worked in liver disease, Divya hoped to start and look at new treatments to help people improve their liver conditions without the need for a transplant.
Through her research on liver disease, Divya discovered that the CFTR gene, which is mutated in cystic fibrosis (CF), was upregulated in individuals with advanced liver disease. This finding revealed a shared inflammatory pathway between the liver and lungs, offering new insights into inflammation and fibrosis in CF and suggesting potential cross-disease therapeutic strategies.
Divya became interested in macrophages, immune cells that fight infection throughout the body. She realized that the same inflammatory processes affecting liver disease might also contribute to lung disease. One important gene in this is HDAC-7, which detects danger signals like bacteria and triggers inflammation control pathways. However, these responses must be activated correctly. If the system malfunctions—either not turning off or being overactive—it can cause ongoing infections or too much inflammation. Divya’s research focuses on balancing these immune responses to help treat inflammatory diseases.
In the Think Zinc project with Cure4CF Divya is exploring mRNA technology to deliver genes that help fight infections. She is focusing on the SLC30A1 zinc transporter, which is reduced in people with CF. This transporter helps macrophages clear bacteria by delivering zinc, which both limits bacterial growth and kills bacteria. SLC30A1 also has anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic effects, and its loss is linked to liver issues like inflammation and fibrosis. By using mRNA to restore zinc transport and immune function, Divya’s research supports precision medicine for treating immune problems in chronic diseases like CF. Looking ahead, Divya aims to translate these discoveries into therapeutic interventions, with a focus on interdisciplinary collaborations and clinical partnerships to develop targeted treatments for CF and other inflammatory diseases.