Biography
Utpal Banerjee is currently a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cell & Developmental Biology at UCLA and Co-Director of the Broad Stem Cell Research Center. In 2000, the University named Utpal as one of the “Best 20 Professors” of the “Bruin Century”. He was further distinguished with the Luckman and Gold Shield Awards, the highest research and teaching awards in any subject, including humanities and social sciences, at UCLA. Dr. Banerjee is among 20 professors nationally to be awarded a $1 million grant by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) to creatively improve undergraduate science teaching. The grant has generously funded the UCLA Undergraduate Research Consortium in Functional Genomics (URCFG). Utpal has a joint appointments in Biological Chemistry where he teaches advanced Genetics courses. Utpal received his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Caltech. His successful transition into Biology was earmarked by his postdoctoral research training with Dr. Seymour Benzer at Caltech where he initiated research in molecular neurogenetics of eye development in Drosophila and worked on the sevenless locus. As a scientist and professor, he is a dedicated and an accomplished researcher in the fields of Drosophila genetics and developmental biology. His current research interests are in signal transduction and transcriptional control of neural and hematopoietic development. Earlier work from Utpal’s laboratory identified the son of sevenless (sos) gene that participates in all RTK signaling pathways. Currently his laboratory is identifying novel means by which different signal transduction cascades combine to distinguish between neural and non-neural cell types in the Drosophila eye. They have also made critical discoveries in identifying transcription factors and signaling components that are responsible for the hematopoiesis in Drosophila. Using Drosophila as a genetic model, they hope to identify basic molecular strategies that are conserved in development across species. Prof. Banerjee has authored many publications and review articles. He has served on several NIH Genetics Study Sections and has been a Scientific Advisor to several private companies and foundations. He has contributed prominently to both the academic and scientific community at UCLA. Utpal, his lovely wife, Arpita, and their fantastic kids, Mohini and Vivek, live in Los Angeles.
Publications
A selected list of publications:
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Biography
Gal Bitan got his PhD in organic chemistry from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. Dr. Bitan’s graduate work on unnatural amino acids and non-conventional peptide cyclization methodologies led him to postdoctoral studies on the structural biology of ligand-receptor systems including integrins and G protein-coupled receptors at Clark University, Worcester, MA and Beth Israel-Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA. Dr. Bitan then moved on to tackle the problem of protein misfolding and aggregation, which is involved in over 30 devastating diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, prion diseases (e.g., Mad Cow disease), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gherig’s disease), and type II diabetes. Working at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, Dr. Bitan has made fundamental contributions to the study of early events in the pathologic cascades that cause Alzheimer’s disease. In Alzheimer’s disease, the amyloid ß-protein (Aß) self-associates to form a variety of oligomeric and polymeric structures with potent neurotoxic activities. In particular, Aß oligomers have been implicated as the probable cause of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Bitan introduced the use of novel photochemical protein cross-linking techniques for investigation of Aß assembly and discovered one of the earliest oligomers in the assembly cascade, the paranucleus. In 2004, Dr. Bitan joined UCLA where he is currently a Professor of Neurology. His research program is focused on translational science geared at developing novel, mechanism-based diagnostic and therapeutic tools for neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease and other tauopathies, Parkinson’s disease, multiple system atrophy, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.