Our Team

Michael A. Kohanski, MD, PhD

Principal Investigator

Michael A. Kohanski received his Bachelors of Science in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 2002 and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Boston University in 2011. Dr. Kohanski’s graduate work in the laboratory of Dr. Jim Collins focused on antibiotic mechanisms of action and the development of antibiotic resistance. Dr. Kohanski helped identify a common cell death mechanism among bactericidal antibiotics associated with oxidative stress that also has a role in the development of antibiotic resistance. Dr. Kohanski completed his otolaryngology residency training at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in 2016, and a research and clinical fellowship in rhinology at the University of Pennsylvania in 2018.

During Dr. Kohanski’s research fellowship with Dr. Noam Cohen, he identified solitary chemosensory cells (nasal tuft cells) enrichment in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps. Dr. Kohanski joined the faculty of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology at the University of Pennsylvania as an assistant professor in 2018. He continues to study the developmental pathways associated with tuft cell hyperplasia and function in chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps as well as mechanisms associated with malignant transformation in inverted papilloma.

Deepa Keshari, Ph.D.

Research Specialist

Deepa has completed her PhD in 2017 at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. For their doctoral research she received a prestigious fellowship from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India. During her doctoral research, she obtained a strong experience in the field of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and involved in drug and discovery program. Here, she demonstrated that phosphoserine aminotransferase (SerC) was essential enzyme for the growth and survival of Mtb under in vitro and ex vivo conditions. Moreover, she revealed the role of SerC under different stress and persistence condition.

Deepa joined the laboratory of Dr. Michael Kohanski as a research specialist in April 2022. She is focuses on mechanism of tuft cell hyperplasia and epithelial inflammatory reaction associated with Aspirin Exacerbated Respiratory Disease (AERD). Dr. Keshari has a long-term goal to help identify molecular mechanisms associated with aspirin desensitization to use for the improvement of anti-inflammatory treatments and clinical diagnosis in AERD patients.

Kush Panera, M.D.

Penn OTO Resident