Deepak Kotiya, PhD

  • Scientist I

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Contact

kotiya.deepak@uky.edu
789 South Limestone, Lee T Todd Bldg, 5th floor

Units

Research

Dr. Deepak Kotiya earned his Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine from Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi, India) in 2016, where his doctoral research focused on the role of the endocrine receptor Pregnane X Receptor (PXR) in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Following his doctoral training, Dr. Kotiya joined the University of Kentucky as a postdoctoral scholar to investigate the impact of endocrine hormone amylin dyshomeostasis on Alzheimer’s disease. His research centred on elucidating the molecular mechanisms linking pancreatic amyloid-forming amylin to cerebral β-amyloid (Aβ) pathology and neurodegeneration. Leveraging his expertise in molecular and cellular biology, he developed novel immunological tools and assays, including antibody generation and ELISA-based platforms, and utilised a range of transgenic rodent models expressing human amylin and β-amyloid.

His research contributions include:

Developing and characterising conditional transgenic mouse models expressing human amylin in the pancreas, with and without the APP/PS1 genotype, where human amylin expression can be selectively upregulated or downregulated through tamoxifen administration.
Investigating passive amylin immunotherapy as a therapeutic strategy to reduce both amylin and β-amyloid plaque burden in Alzheimer’s disease mouse models.

Dr. Kotiya is the recipient of the prestigious Alzheimer’s Association AARF 2024 International Research Grant, recognising his innovative contributions to Alzheimer’s disease research.

Currently, he is a research scientist at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, where his work focuses on arginine metabolism, amino acid sensing pathways, and tauopathies, including Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders. His research aims to advance the understanding of metabolic and molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration and to identify novel therapeutic targets for age-related brain diseases.

Selected Publications

    Funding : Awarded Alzheimer's Association AARF 2024 International Research grant.

  1. Kotiya Deepak, Noah Leibold, Nirmal Verma, Gregory A. Jicha, Larry B. Goldstein, and Florin Despa. "Rapid, scalable assay of amylin-β amyloid co-aggregation in brain tissue and blood." Journal of Biological Chemistry 299, no. 5 (2023).
  2. Ravichandra S Davargaon, Nirmal Verma, Deepak Kotiya, Noah Leibold, Gopal Viswanathan Velmurugan, Han Coburn, Kuey C Chen, Daniel Ruiz, Victor Corces, Huazhen Liu, Pradeep Kachroo, Pankaj K Singh, Matthew S Gentry, Sanda Despa, Florin Despa. Peripheral amylin modulation rebalances brain glycolysis and Tau-Ser214 phosphorylation via cAMP-PKA signaling.iScience. (2026) Feb 26;29(3):115157
  3. Sathya Velmurugan, Vivek K. Pandey, Nirmal Verma, Deepak Kotiya, Florin Despa & Sanda Despa. Cardiac remodelling, recognition memory deficits and accelerated ageing in a rat model of gestational diabetes. Diabetologia (2025) 68:1574–1584
  4. Verma, Nirmal, Gopal Viswanathan Velmurugan, Edric Winford, Han Coburn, Deepak Kotiya, Noah Leibold, Laura Radulescu et al. "Aβ efflux impairment and inflammation linked to cerebrovascular accumulation of amyloid-forming amylin secreted from pancreas." Communications biology 6, no. 1 (2023): 2.
  5. Ly, Han, Nirmal Verma, Savita Sharma, Deepak Kotiya, Sanda Despa, Erin L. Abner, Peter T. Nelson et al. "The association of circulating amylin with β‐amyloid in familial Alzheimer's disease." Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions 7, no. 1 (2021): e12130.
  6. Kotiya Deepak, Bharti Jaiswal, Sampa Ghose, Rachna Kaul, Kasturi Datta, and Rakesh K. Tyagi. "Role of PXR in hepatic cancer: its influences on liver detoxification capacity and cancer progression." PLoS One 11, no. 10 (2016): e0164087.
  7. Priyanka, Kotiya Deepak, Manjul Rana, N. Subbarao, Niti Puri, and Rakesh K. Tyagi. "Transcription regulation of nuclear receptor PXR: Role of SUMO-1 modification and NDSM in receptor function." Molecular and cellular endocrinology 420 (2016): 194-207.

Selected Publications

    Funding : Awarded Alzheimer's Association AARF 2024 International Research grant.

  1. Kotiya Deepak, Noah Leibold, Nirmal Verma, Gregory A. Jicha, Larry B. Goldstein, and Florin Despa. "Rapid, scalable assay of amylin-β amyloid co-aggregation in brain tissue and blood." Journal of Biological Chemistry 299, no. 5 (2023).
  2. Ravichandra S Davargaon, Nirmal Verma, Deepak Kotiya, Noah Leibold, Gopal Viswanathan Velmurugan, Han Coburn, Kuey C Chen, Daniel Ruiz, Victor Corces, Huazhen Liu, Pradeep Kachroo, Pankaj K Singh, Matthew S Gentry, Sanda Despa, Florin Despa. Peripheral amylin modulation rebalances brain glycolysis and Tau-Ser214 phosphorylation via cAMP-PKA signaling.iScience. (2026) Feb 26;29(3):115157
  3. Sathya Velmurugan, Vivek K. Pandey, Nirmal Verma, Deepak Kotiya, Florin Despa & Sanda Despa. Cardiac remodelling, recognition memory deficits and accelerated ageing in a rat model of gestational diabetes. Diabetologia (2025) 68:1574–1584
  4. Verma, Nirmal, Gopal Viswanathan Velmurugan, Edric Winford, Han Coburn, Deepak Kotiya, Noah Leibold, Laura Radulescu et al. "Aβ efflux impairment and inflammation linked to cerebrovascular accumulation of amyloid-forming amylin secreted from pancreas." Communications biology 6, no. 1 (2023): 2.
  5. Ly, Han, Nirmal Verma, Savita Sharma, Deepak Kotiya, Sanda Despa, Erin L. Abner, Peter T. Nelson et al. "The association of circulating amylin with β‐amyloid in familial Alzheimer's disease." Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions 7, no. 1 (2021): e12130.
  6. Kotiya Deepak, Bharti Jaiswal, Sampa Ghose, Rachna Kaul, Kasturi Datta, and Rakesh K. Tyagi. "Role of PXR in hepatic cancer: its influences on liver detoxification capacity and cancer progression." PLoS One 11, no. 10 (2016): e0164087.
  7. Priyanka, Kotiya Deepak, Manjul Rana, N. Subbarao, Niti Puri, and Rakesh K. Tyagi. "Transcription regulation of nuclear receptor PXR: Role of SUMO-1 modification and NDSM in receptor function." Molecular and cellular endocrinology 420 (2016): 194-207.

Education

2010 - 2016: Ph.D. Molecular Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India

2016-2017: Research Associate, Department of Chemistry, University of Delhi, India

2017-2022: Postdoctoral Research Scholar, Dept. of Pharmaclogy, University of Kentucky, USA

2022- 2026: Scientist-I, Dept. of Pharmaclogy, University of Kentucky, USA

2026- Current : Scientist-I, Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky, USA