Photo of Dr Venkat Reddy

Dr Venkat Reddy

Location:

  • University College Hospital

GMC/GDC number:

5202940

Professional background

Dr Venkat Reddy is an honorary consultant rheumatologist at University College Hospital (UCH), an associate professor, and the Division of Medicine Excellence Fellow of Rheumatology and Inflammation at University College London (UCL). Following his medical training with MBBS and MRCP, in 2011, he completed his training in rheumatology and general medicine in the London Deanery. Subsequently, he obtained a PhD from UCL for his work on understanding why some people with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis respond less to treatment with a B-cell targeting therapy, Rituximab, and how a different biologic, Obinutuzumab, has the potential to target B cells more efficiently.

Dr. Reddy is part of the world class lupus centre of excellence team at UCH/UCL with experience treating people with complex immune-mediated (autoimmune) disease and general rheumatology problems including:

  • Rheumatoid arthritis
  • Psoriatic arthritis
  • Ankylosing spondylitis
  • Systemic lupus erythematosus or lupus
  • Polymyalgia rheumatica
  • Myositis
  • Osteoarthritis
  • Soft tissue problems such as back pain, shoulder pain, hip pain and neck pain
  • Gout
  • Osteoporosis
  • Sjogren’s syndrome
  • Vasculitis
  • Chronic fatigue

His experience in general medicine helps with identifying and managing complex medical problems that people with rheumatic disease also suffer from. He believes in the importance of optimising lifestyle factors such as stress, sleep, diet and exercise to improve outcomes in general and fatigue in particular. He takes a proactive approach in supporting people in their pursuit of modifying lifestyle and achieving better health.

Specialties

Research interests

Working with rheumatology colleagues at UCH/UCL and collaborations with scientists at the University of Southampton and Roche Glycart (Basel), he dedicated full time to translational research focusing on optimising B cell targeted therapies for immune-mediated disease such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.

  • His research work identified how a newer B cell targeting therapy, Obinutuzumab, has the potential to improve outcomes for people with lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. It is expected for this treatment to become available soon for people with severe lupus.
  • He continues to lead research investigating the potential of new treatments, referred to as T cell engagers, that influenced the initiation of a multinational Phase I clinical study in people with lupus.
  • He is also interested in finding new ways to control inflammation in general and across the human lifespan in particular. To this end, he works closely with the adolescent rheumatology team at UCH and scientists at UCL toward understanding how ageing impacts inflammation across the lifespan in health and in immune-mediated disease.

He is fully committed to supporting the development of his colleagues, particularly, early career clinicians and scientists. In 2024, he was nominated for the Division of Medicine Teaching Excellence award.

View full academic profile.

Publications

View full list of publications

Immune-mediated disease

  1. Allameen NA, Salam S, Reddy V, Machado PM. Inclusion body myositis and immunosenescence: current evidence and future perspectives. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2025;64(3):952-61. 
  2. Zhu H, Jiang J, Yang M, Zhao M, He Z, Tang C, et al. Topical application of a BCL-2 inhibitor ameliorates imiquimod-induced psoriasiform dermatitis by eliminating senescent cells. J Dermatol Sci. 2024;115(2):54-63.
  3. Shah K, Leandro M, Cragg M, Kollert F, Schuler F, Klein C, and Reddy V. Disrupting B and T-cell collaboration in autoimmune disease: T-cell engagers versus CAR T-cell therapy? Clin Exp Immunol. 2024;217(1):15-30.
  4. Jiang J, Yang M, Zhu H, Long D, He Z, Liu J, et al. CD4(+)CD57(+) senescent T cells as promoters of systemic lupus erythematosus pathogenesis and the therapeutic potential of senolytic BCL-2 inhibitor. Eur J Immunol. 2024;54(7):e2350603.
  5. Reddy VR, Pepper RJ, Shah K, Cambridge G, Henderson SR, Klein C, et al. Disparity in peripheral and renal B-cell depletion with rituximab in systemic lupus erythematosus: an opportunity for obinutuzumab? Rheumatology (Oxford). 2022;61(7):2894-904.
  6. Norris-Grey C, Cambridge G, Moore S, Reddy V, Leandro M. Long-term persistence of rituximab in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: an evaluation of the UCL cohort from 1998 to 2020. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2022;61(2):591-6.
  7. Shah K, Cragg M, Leandro M, Reddy V. Anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. Biologicals. 2021;69:1-14.
  8. Shah K, Porter A, Takhar G, Reddy V. Case of using mycophenolate in combination with steroids for concurrent macrophage activation syndrome and lupus flare. BMJ Case Rep. 2020;13(4):e231554.
  9. Mehta P, Porter JC, Chambers RC, Isenberg DA, Reddy V. B-cell depletion with rituximab in the COVID-19 pandemic: where do we stand? Lancet Rheumatol. 2020;2(10):e589-e90.
  10. Stopforth RJ, Oldham RJ, Tutt AL, Duriez P, Chan HTC, Binkowski BF, et al. Detection of Experimental and Clinical Immune Complexes by Measuring SHIP-1 Recruitment to the Inhibitory FcgammaRIIB. J Immunol. 2018;200(5):1937-50.
  11. Reddy V, Martinez L, Isenberg DA, Leandro MJ, Cambridge G. Pragmatic Treatment of Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus with Rituximab: Long-Term Effects on Serum Immunoglobulins. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2017;69(6):857-66.
  12. Reddy V, Klein C, Isenberg DA, Glennie MJ, Cambridge G, Cragg MS, et al. Obinutuzumab induces superior B-cell cytotoxicity to rituximab in rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus patient samples. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2017;56(7):1227-37.
  13. Mota P, Reddy V, Isenberg D. Improving B-cell depletion in systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis. Expert Rev Clin Immunol. 2017;13(7):667-76.
  14. Reddy V, Dahal LN, Cragg MS, Leandro M. Optimising B-cell depletion in autoimmune disease: is obinutuzumab the answer? Drug Discov Today. 2016;21(8):1330-8.
  15. Reddy V, Cambridge G, Isenberg DA, Glennie MJ, Cragg MS, Leandro M. Internalization of rituximab and the efficiency of B Cell depletion in rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Arthritis & rheumatology. 2015;67(8):2046-55.
  16. Reddy V, Leandro M. Variability in clinical and biological response to rituximab in autoimmune diseases: an opportunity for personalized therapy? International Journal of Clinical Rheumatology. 2014;9(3):279-93.
  17. Mauri C, Reddy V, Blair PA. B Cell Activation and B Cell Tolerance. In: Rose NR, Mackay IR, editors. The Autoimmune Diseases. Boston: Academic Press; 2014. p. 147-58.
  18. Reddy V, Jayne D, Close D, Isenberg D. B-cell depletion in SLE: clinical and trial experience with rituximab and ocrelizumab and implications for study design. Arthritis Res Ther. 2013;15 Suppl 1(Suppl 1):S2.
  19. Reddy V, Croca S, Gerona D, De La Torre I, Isenberg D, McDonald V, et al. Serum rituximab levels and efficiency of B cell depletion: differences between patients with rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2013;52(5):951-2.
  20. Flores-Borja F, Bosma A, Ng D, Reddy V, Ehrenstein MR, Isenberg DA, et al. CD19+CD24hiCD38hi B cells maintain regulatory T cells while limiting TH1 and TH17 differentiation. Sci Transl Med. 2013;5(173):173ra23.
  21. Reddy V, Isenberg D. Clinical presentation and assessment of disease activity in lupus nephritis. 2012.
  22. Reddy V, Dziadzio M, Hamdulay S, Boyce S, Prasad N, Keat A. Lupus and leg ulcers--a diagnostic quandary. Clin Rheumatol. 2007;26(7):1173-5.
  23. Dziadzio M, Hamdulay S, Reddy V, Boyce S, Keat A, Andrews J. A still image of a transient rash captured by a mobile phone. Clin Rheumatol. 2007;26(6):979-80.
  24. Dziadzio M, Reddy V, Rahman S, Mummery C, Keat A. Is TNFalpha really a good therapeutic target in motoneuronal degeneration? A case of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in a patient with RA receiving infliximab. Rheumatology (Oxford). 2006;45(11):1445-6.

Chronic fatigue

  1. Armstrong CW, Mensah FFK, Leandro MJ, Reddy V, Gooley PR, Berkovitz S, et al. In vitro B cell experiments explore the role of CD24, CD38, and energy metabolism in ME/CFS. Front Immunol. 2023;14:1178882.
  2. Mensah FFK, Armstrong CW, Reddy V, Bansal AS, Berkovitz S, Leandro MJ, et al. CD24 Expression and B Cell Maturation Shows a Novel Link with Energy Metabolism: Potential Implications for Patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Front Immunol. 2018;9:2421.
  3. Mensah F, Bansal A, Berkovitz S, Sharma A, Reddy V, Leandro MJ, et al. Extended B cell phenotype in patients with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome: a cross-sectional study. Clin Exp Immunol. 2016;184(2):237-47.

General rheumatology

  1. Mehta P, Meeran K, Macphie E, Abbas A, Rippin J, Jeffery RC, et al. Variability in counselling for adrenal insufficiency in COVID-19 and beyond: a survey of rheumatology practice. Lancet Rheumatol. 2021;3(2):e92-e4.
  2. Farah Z, Reddy V, Matthews W, Giles I. Poor adherence to guidelines on early management of acute hot swollen joint(s): an evaluation of clinical practice and implications for training. Int J Clin Pract. 2015;69(5):618-22.
  3. Farah Z, Sbai M, Reddy V. SAT0499 Falling Standards and Breaking Bad Habits: an Evaluation of Clinical Practice. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 2014;73.

Ageing

  1. Short E, Huckstepp RTR, Alavian K, Amoaku WMK, Barber TM, van Beek EJR, et al. International Consortium to Classify Ageing-related Pathologies (ICCARP) senescence definitions: achieving international consensus. Geroscience. 2025.
  2. Short E, Iccarp, Calimport S, Bentley B. Defining an ageing-related pathology, disease or syndrome: International Consensus Statement. Geroscience. 2024.