Dr. Gopalakrishnan is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He received his MS in Clinical Laboratory Sciences and PhD in Health Sciences from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee followed by a postdoctoral training at Cardiovascular Center, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Dr. Gopalakrishnan has received "Diplomate" (DAPWCA) and "Master" designation (MAPWCA) and is the Secretary of  American Professional Wound Care Association. He is an active member of Wound Healing Society and McPherson Eye Research Institute at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Gopalakrishnan teaches pathophysiology and genetics for undergraduate and graduate students.

Chronic non-healing wounds can be considered a silent epidemic because they are a significant and growing public health problem that often goes unrecognized and untreated. These wounds, which include diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers, venous leg ulcers, and arterial ulcers, can be debilitating and often lead to significant morbidity and mortality. The incidence of chronic non-healing wounds is increasing, particularly in aging populations and in those with chronic health conditions. The economic burden of these wounds is also significant, with estimated costs of up to $50 billion per year in the United States alone.

Dr. Gopalakrishnan’s program of research involves:

a. Improving outcomes in chronic nonhealing wounds by developing and translating therapeutic strategies. Gopalakrishnan is extensively involved in developing photobiomodulation (PBM) using far-red (FR) to near-infrared (NIR) light as a non-invasive, painless, and inexpensive therapeutic modality for soft-tissue injuries and wound healing. Dr. Gopalakrishnan with his mentor Prof. Janis Eells and Prof. Mahsa Ranji demonstrated the mechanisms of action involved in the application of NIR PBM in the treatment of retinal injury, retinal degenerative disease, and neurodegenerative disease.

b. Developing novel non-contact 3D solutions on portable devices for high fidelity analysis of wound healing. In collaboration with Dr. Zeyun Yu, who directs the Biomedical Modeling and Visualization Lab, our team is developing innovative algorithms and software tools for: (1) accurately computing surface areas and volumes of wounds, including wound capturing on mobile phones and 3D shape reconstruction, and (2) automatically analyzing measured data including wound geometries and clinical text using machine learning and Artificial Intelligence for better monitoring of the wound healing process.

c. Designing and implementing novel clinical trials and disseminating clinically relevant patient data on wound healing and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in collaboration with Dr. Jeffrey Niezgoda.

Dr. Gopalakrishnan is the Co-Founder and the CEO of the Startup: Auxillium Health. The mission of the start up is to unleash the power of AI to transform healthcare delivery.

Education

Postdoctoral Fellowship: Neurophysiology, Cardiovascular Center, Medical College of Wisconsin Milwaukee
Ph D Health Sciences/Biomedical Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
MS Clinical Laboratory Sciences, University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Awards & Honors

Chancellors Fellowship UWM Graduate School

Fight for Sight Summer Fellowship Fight for Sight (http://www.fightforsight.org/)

Quantum Devices Scholarship Quantum Devices Inc.

Victor A. Drill Award Society of Toxicology, Midwest Regional Chapter

Harriet H. Werley Nursing Faculty Research Award (2018) Research Committee

Molly Yeffeth Krain and Irwin Amrani Memorial Award (2009)

Contracts & Grants

Intellectual Contributions

Zaharova, S., Litwack, K., Gopalakrishnan, S., Ellis, J., & Saltzberg, M. T. (2022). Self-management in heart failure: The importance of self-regulation but not complexity of condition. Western Journal of Nursing Research, 44(4375-382), 193945921997428. doi:10.1177/0193945921997428

Agarwal, R., Niezgoda, J., Niezgoda, J., Siddique, A., Madetipati, N., & Gopalakrishnan, S. (2022 (epub 2021)). Advances in hemostatic wound dressings: Clinical implications and insight. Advances in Skin & Wound Care, 35(2), 113-121. doi:10.1097/01.asw.0000790488.72494.57

Foomani, F. H., Anisuzzaman, D. M., Niezgoda, J., Niezgoda, J., Guns, W., Gopalakrishnan, S., & Yu, Z. (2021). Synthesizing time-series wound prognosis factors from electronic medical records using generative adversarial networks. Journal of Biomedical Informatics, 125, 103972. doi:10.1016/j.jbi.2021.103972

Rostami, B., Anisuzzaman, D. M., Wang, C., Gopalakrishnan, S., Niezgoda, J., & Yu, Z. (2021). Multiclass wound image classification using an ensemble deep CNN-based classifier. Computers in Biology and Medicine, 134, 104536. doi:10.1016/j.compbiomed.2021.104536

Gopalakrishnan, S.,Mehrvar, S., Maleki, S., Schmitt, H., Summerfelt, P., Dubis, A. M., Abroe, B., Connor, T. B., Jr., Carroll, J., Huddleston, W., Ranji, M., & Eells, J. T. (2020). Photobiomodulation preserves mitochondrial redox state and is retinoprotective in a rodent model of retinitis pigmentosa. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 20382. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-77290-w

Mehrvar, S., Mostaghimi, S., Foomani, F., Abroe, B., Eells, J., Gopalakrishnan, S., & Ranji, M. (2021). 670 nm photobiomodulation improves the mitochondrial redox state of diabetic wounds. Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery, 11(1), 107-118. doi:10.21037/qims-20-522

Niezgoda, Jeffery A., Niezgoda, Jonathan A., & Gopalakrishnan, S. (in press). In vitro characterization of pressure redistribution among commercially available wound dressings. Advances in Skin and Wound Care. 2021 Mar 1;34(3):139-142. doi: 10.1097/01.ASW.0000723124.76890.6a.

Wang C, Anisuzzaman DM, Williamson V, Dhar MK, Rostami B, Niezgoda J, Gopalakrishnan S, Yu Z.  Fully automatic wound segmentation with deep convolutional neural networks.Scientific Reports,2020 Dec 14;10(1):21897. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-78799-w.

Gopalakrishnan, S., Mehrvar, S., Maleki, S., Schmitt, H., Summerfelt, P., Dubis, A. M., Abroe, B., Connor, T. B., Jr., Carroll, J., Huddleston, W., Ranji, M., & Eells, J. T. (2020). Photobiomodulation preserves mitochondrial redox state and is retinoprotective in a rodent model of retinitis pigmentosa. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 20382. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-77290-w

Mehrvar, S., Mostaghimi, S., Foomani, F., Abroe, B., Eells, J., Gopalakrishnan, S., & Ranji, M. (2021). 670 nm photobiomodulation improves the mitochondrial redox state of diabetic wounds. Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery, 11(1), 107-118. doi:10.21037/qims-20-522

Gopalakrishnan, Sandeep, Niezgoda, Jonathan A., Hoffman, Brandon C., Siddique, Awais, and Niezgoda, Jeffrey A. “Using near infrared spectroscopy imaging to manage critical limb ischemia.” Today's Wound Clinic 13.9 (2019): 12-15.

Kovach, Christine R., Evans, C R., Sattell, L, Rosenau, K, and Gopalakrishnan, Sandeep. “Feasibility and pilot testing of a mindfulness intervention for frail older adults and individuals with dementia.” Research in Gerontological Nursing 11.3 (2018): 137-150.

Eells, Janis T., Gopalakrishnan, Sandeep, Salzman, M. M., Valter, K., Provis, J., Natoli, R., Fitzgerald, M., and . “Low-level laser (light) therapy for the treatment of visual saystem injury and disease.” Handbook of low-level laser therapy.. Ed. Hamblin, M. R., Agrawal, T., and de Sousa, M. Pan Sanford, (2016).

Eells, Janis T., Gopalakrishnan, Sandeep, and Valter, K. “Near-Infrared Photobiomodulation in Retinal Injury and Disease.” Advances in experimental medicine and biology 854. (2016): 437-41.