0000-0003-4558-580X About
Dr. Leena Sapra, Ph.D., is a biomedical scientist specializing in osteoimmunology, skeletal aging, bone biology, and host–microbe–immune interactions. She is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Robert & Arlene Kogod Center on Aging, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota (2025–present). Her work integrates immunology, stem cell biology, and translational aging research to uncover mechanisms driving inflammatory bone loss and age-associated skeletal degeneration.
Dr. Sapra earned her Ph.D. in Biotechnology (2018–2024) from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, where she investigated the immunoporotic role of the Breg–Treg–Th17 axis and developed novel immunotherapeutic strategies to mitigate inflammatory bone loss in post‑menopausal osteoporosis. Her work contributed significantly to the rapidly emerging field of immunoporosis—the intersection of immune dysregulation and osteoporosis.
Her doctoral research demonstrated how regulatory B cells, regulatory T cells, Th17 cells, gut-derived immune subsets, and osteoimmune cytokine networks collaboratively shape osteoclastogenesis and bone remodeling. Using advanced preclinical models (including OVX osteoporosis, ARDS, sepsis, and aging-associated models such as p16-INK-ATTAC mice), she mapped molecular pathways that could be targeted to restore bone health under inflammatory and aging contexts.
She has extensive technical expertise across animal disease models, flow cytometry (8+ years), immune cell culture, bone and stem cell assays, molecular biology, and omics-driven transcriptomics. Her work extends into gut microbiota research, where she elucidated how probiotic strains like Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus acidophilus, and Bacillus coagulans modulate immune pathways to enhance bone health under osteoporotic conditions.
Dr. Sapra is a highly productive researcher with over 40 peer‑reviewed publications, including multiple first‑author papers in high‑impact journals such as Gut Microbes, Frontiers in Immunology, Clinical Immunology, JBMR Plus, and BBA–Molecular Basis of Disease. Her work has accumulated 1,200 citations with an i10-index of 25, reflecting her influential contributions to osteoimmunology and aging biology.
She is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Sun Pharma Science Scholar Award (2023), G.P. Talwar Young Scientist Award, AIIMS Best Published Work Award, Excellent Presenter Award (Korean Society of Bone & Mineral Research 2024), and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Travel Award. Dr. Sapra has presented her research internationally, including at ASM, KSBMR, ASBMR, IIS, and TCS conferences, and she is a Life Member of the Indian Immunology Society and The Cytometry Society.
At Mayo Clinic, Dr. Sapra is advancing her expertise in skeletal aging, bone marrow stromal cell senescence, and immune–skeletal crosstalk, integrating high‑dimensional tools such as single‑cell RNA sequencing and multi‑parameter flow cytometry. Her long‑term research vision is to develop targeted immuno‑regenerative therapeutics that restore skeletal integrity in inflammatory and age‑related bone disorders.
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Publications (47)
- Immunotherapeutic potential of "Breg-Treg" vs "Th9-Th17" cell axis in post-menopausal osteoporosis Save
- Bacillus coagulans ameliorates inflammatory bone loss in post-menopausal osteoporosis via modulating the "Gut-Immune-Bone" axis Save
- Lactobacillus acidophilus Ameliorates Inflammatory Bone Loss Under Postmenopausal Osteoporotic Conditions via Modulating the Gut-Resident RORγT- pTreg Cell Population Save
- Compromised anti-osteoclastogenic and immunomodulatory functions of regulatory B cells (Bregs) aggravate inflammatory bone loss in post-menopausal osteoporosis Save
- Double positive IL-17A+IFN-γ+CCR6+ILCs contribute towards the immunopathology of lepromatous leprosy Save
- Gut-resident regulatory T cells (GTregs) play a pivotal role in maintaining bone health under postmenopausal osteoporotic conditions Save
- ILC3 inhibits Osteoclastogenesis and ameliorates Inflammatory Bone Loss in Post-menopausal Osteoporosis Save
- Lactobacillus acidophilus ameliorates inflammatory bone loss under post-menopausal osteoporotic conditions via preventing the pathogenic conversion of gut resident pTregs into Th17 cells Save
- Polysaccharides to postbiotics: Nurturing bone health via modulating "gut-immune axis" Save
- Targeting the osteoclastogenic cytokine IL-9 as a novel immunotherapeutic strategy in mitigating inflammatory bone loss in post-menopausal osteoporosis Save