Praveen Thumbikat PhD

Dr. Praveen Thumbikat received his training as a veterinarian in 1997 from Kerala Agricultural University in India and obtained a Ph.D from the University of Minnesota in 2004. He did his postdoctoral work in the area of bladder infections at Northwestern University under mentorship of Dr. David Klumpp and Dr. Anthony Schaeffer. In 2008, Praveen was awarded a K01 career development award by the NIH/NIDDK and started studying inflammation in the prostate. In 2010, he became an Assistant Professor at Northwestern University and focused his work on understanding the pathogenesis of Chronic prostatitis/ Chronic pelvic pain syndrome, a debilitating medical condition that affects millions of men. In recent years Praveen and his group have expanded their focus to other diseases of the prostate including BPH and prostate cancer. In particular, Praveen is interesting in microbes, both pathogens and commensals and their ability to modulate the prostate immune response. Praveen’s group is actively involved in utilizing these systems to understand prostate disease pathogenesis as well as to translate basic science findings to the clinic.