Sudarshan Krishnamurthy, PhD

@sudkrishnamurthy.bsky.social

1193 Followers 209 Following

MD/PhD Student | Abolitionist Public Health & Health Justice | Research - SDoH, Structural Racism, and ADRD | Views my own. (he/they) 🌈 https://www.linktr.ee/sudkrishnamurthy

Little bowl of cut-up apples on a notebook full of notes from reviewing tests, surrounded by a computer keyboard, two pens, and several incomplete to-do lists.
Picture of three people dressed formally, grinning away. From the left to the right, you can see Mr. Dennis in a checked shirt and black jacket with cream khakis, Sud in an all Blue suit and shirt, and Ms. Edith in a brown top and tan pants holding a cane.
This image is a visual or graphical abstract of the study titled 'Associations of place-based social determinants of health with biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias'. The image describes this to be a retrospective cohort study in the Wake Forest Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, including 679 participants from the Healthy Brain Study, running from 2016 to 2024. The primary outcomes of the study included neuroimaging and plasma biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease and related Dementias. Findings in the study highlighted that the burden of place-based social determinants of health (SDoH) was higher among Black participants. Additionally, among Black participants, higher levels of neighborhood disadvantage, social vulnerability, and environmental injustice is related to worse biomarker outcomes. The discussion of the study highlighted that this higher SDoH burden was associated with changes in dementia-related neuroimaging biomarkers, particularly related to cerebrovascular health and brain structure, among Black participants. It is important to invest in grassroots initiatives and policy efforts to combat SDoH at a neighborhood-level in an effort to improve ADRD outcomes.
This image is a visual or graphical abstract of the study titled 'Associations of place-based social determinants of health with biomarkers of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias'. The image describes this to be a retrospective cohort study in the Wake Forest Alzheimer's Disease Research Center, including 679 participants from the Healthy Brain Study, running from 2016 to 2024. The primary outcomes of the study included neuroimaging and plasma biomarkers of Alzheimer's Disease and related Dementias. Findings in the study highlighted that the burden of place-based social determinants of health (SDoH) was higher among Black participants. Additionally, among Black participants, higher levels of neighborhood disadvantage, social vulnerability, and environmental injustice is related to worse biomarker outcomes. The discussion of the study highlighted that this higher SDoH burden was associated with changes in dementia-related neuroimaging biomarkers, particularly related to cerebrovascular health and brain structure, among Black participants. It is important to invest in grassroots initiatives and policy efforts to combat SDoH at a neighborhood-level in an effort to improve ADRD outcomes.
Sud with his family — Sud’s dad is on his left, with Sud’s uncle to the extreme left. Sud’s aunt is on his right, with Sud’s uncle to her right. Sud’s partner, Bailey, is on the extreme right — far-left of the image.
A picture of cinnabon delights bought for Sud by their partner, Bailey, with little celebratory PhD signs on toothpicks sticking out from it!
Front page of Sud’s dissertation titled ‘Investigating the Relationships of Place-based Social Determinants of Health and Structural Racism with Measures of Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias”. The rest of the text on the title page reads as follows: BY SUDARSHAN KRISHNAMURTHY A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of WAKE FOREST UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Molecular Medicine and Translational Science May 2025 Winston-Salem, North Carolina Approved By: Timothy M. Hughes, PhD, MPH, Advisor James R. Bateman, MD, MPH, Chair Sarah N. Forrester, PhD, MS Da Ma, PhD Ellen Quillen, PhD Christopher Whitlow, MD, PhD
This image is a visual abstract for a paper titled ‘Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Receipt of ERBB2-Targeted Therapy for Breast Cancer, 2010-2020”. This was a Retrospective Cohort study using a SEER-Medicare Linked Dataset. The sample comprised 12,765 beneficiaries with ERBB2-positive breast cancer, and included those diagnosed from January 2010 to December 2020. The primary outcome of the study was receipt of ERBB2-targeted therapy in 12 months after diagnosis. The primary findings showed a) an increase in overall receipt of ERBB2-targeted therapies from 41.3% to 64.3% over time, and that b) Black & Hispanic patients had a lower likelihood of receipt than White patients in 2010-11, with no differences by 2018-19. The findings suggest a narrowing of racial and ethnic disparities in receipt of therapies over time among older Medicare beneficiaries with ERBB2-positive breast cancer. Future work is needed to understand the practices that resulted in the narrowing of disparities to develop implementation strategies and improve pharmacoequity in breast cancer care.
This figure, from the study being discussed, has a line graph of the percentages of beneficiaries receiving treatment by race and ethnicity between 2010 and 2019 in panel A. Below that, in panel B, is a forest plot of the likelihood of treatment by race and ethnicity from 2010 to 2019 from up to down. Both figure panels show a narrowing of disparities, with Black and Hispanic beneficiaries starting off at lower rates of receipt of ERBB2/HER2-targeted therapies in 2010-11, and these disparities not being observed in 2018-19.
This image is a visual abstract for a paper titled ‘Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Receipt of ERBB2-Targeted Therapy for Breast Cancer, 2010-2020”. This was a Retrospective Cohort study using a SEER-Medicare Linked Dataset. The sample comprised 12,765 beneficiaries with ERBB2-positive breast cancer, and included those diagnosed from January 2010 to December 2020. The primary outcome of the study was receipt of ERBB2-targeted therapy in 12 months after diagnosis. The primary findings showed a) an increase in overall receipt of ERBB2-targeted therapies from 41.3% to 64.3% over time, and that b) Black & Hispanic patients had a lower likelihood of receipt than White patients in 2010-11, with no differences by 2018-19. The findings suggest a narrowing of racial and ethnic disparities in receipt of therapies over time among older Medicare beneficiaries with ERBB2-positive breast cancer. Future work is needed to understand the practices that resulted in the narrowing of disparities to develop implementation strategies and improve pharmacoequity in breast cancer care.
This image is a visual abstract for a paper titled ‘Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Receipt of ERBB2-Targeted Therapy for Breast Cancer, 2010-2020”. This was a Retrospective Cohort study using a SEER-Medicare Linked Dataset. The sample comprised 12,765 beneficiaries with ERBB2-positive breast cancer, and included those diagnosed from January 2010 to December 2020. The primary outcome of the study was receipt of ERBB2-targeted therapy in 12 months after diagnosis. The primary findings showed a) an increase in overall receipt of ERBB2-targeted therapies from 41.3% to 64.3% over time, and that b) Black & Hispanic patients had a lower likelihood of receipt than White patients in 2010-11, with no differences by 2018-19. The findings suggest a narrowing of racial and ethnic disparities in receipt of therapies over time among older Medicare beneficiaries with ERBB2-positive breast cancer. Future work is needed to understand the practices that resulted in the narrowing of disparities to develop implementation strategies and improve pharmacoequity in breast cancer care.
This image is a visual abstract for a paper titled ‘Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Receipt of ERBB2-Targeted Therapy for Breast Cancer, 2010-2020”. This was a Retrospective Cohort study using a SEER-Medicare Linked Dataset. The sample comprised 12,765 beneficiaries with ERBB2-positive breast cancer, and included those diagnosed from January 2010 to December 2020. The primary outcome of the study was receipt of ERBB2-targeted therapy in 12 months after diagnosis. The primary findings showed a) an increase in overall receipt of ERBB2-targeted therapies from 41.3% to 64.3% over time, and that b) Black & Hispanic patients had a lower likelihood of receipt than White patients in 2010-11, with no differences by 2018-19. The findings suggest a narrowing of racial and ethnic disparities in receipt of therapies over time among older Medicare beneficiaries with ERBB2-positive breast cancer. Future work is needed to understand the practices that resulted in the narrowing of disparities to develop implementation strategies and improve pharmacoequity in breast cancer care.
Dissertation defense flyer with a white and cream background. The left hand side has a picture of the Wake Forest School of Medicine, a headshot of Sud smiling in a checked Blue shirt, and a logo of the Wake Forest Graduate School of Arts and Sciences from top to bottom. The right hand side has a block of text that reads as follows: You are invited to the Final Dissertation Defense of Sudarshan Krishnamurthy Molecular Medicine and Translational Science Graduate Program for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D) "Investigating the Relationships of Place-based Social Determinants of Health and Structural Racism with Measures of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias" Friday, March 28th, 2025, 9:00am Please DM or Email sukrishn@wakehealth.edu for Location and/or Virtual Meeting Link Information.
Sud in a checked blue shirt, smiling wide, against the backdrop of glass windows. Sud has short hair, a short stubble, and two black studs in both earlobes.
A cortado in a short glass, with a tulip for latte art on top made with oat milk!