Rama Gullapalli, MD, PhD is a physician-scientist in the departments of Pathology, Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of New Mexico (UNM). Dr. Gullapalli is interested in the convergence of optical technologies with clinical pathology practice and toxicological assessments. The Gullapalli research lab is currently focused on understanding the role of environmental exposures (e.g., cadmium, microplastics, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) as risk factors for hepatobiliary diseases such as fatty liver disease. A separate line of research inquiry focuses on measuring drug-induced liver injuries (DILI) using fluorescence optical techniques. The Gullapalli lab utilizes a variety of experimental research methods such as high throughput sequencing, optical techniques (fluorescence lifetime microscopy and fluorescence correlation spectroscopy), bioinformatics, molecular biology, digital pathology, and systems biology to understand human hepatobiliary diseases and drug toxicity.