Crossroads in Medicine: When HIV Doesn’t Lead to AIDS and Stem Cells Are Made by Man

Statistical physics and cell biology are the latest seemingly-different scientific fields that may combine to offer insights into human health and medicine. Arup K. Chakraborty, the Robert T. Haslam Professor of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Biological Engineering at MIT, examines the latest research in these fields on Tuesday, April 21 in this month’s installment of the q-bios lecture series.

Dr. Chakraborty begins with a look at people known as elite controllers of HIV infection: Individuals who can control HIV infection without therapeutic intervention. These individuals certain genes that are correlate with greater proclivities for autoimmunity, creating a phenomenon of the immune system that may contribute to the ability of elite controllers to live with HIV infection while escaping disease AIDS.

He then turns to a second phenomenon that seems impossible: transforming so-called ordinary cells into a pluripotent state; i.e., the state of an embryonic stem cell and creating patient-specific stem cells for regenerative medicine. Cellular states are plastic, he will explain, and even terminally differentiated cells can sometimes be reprogrammed to this state according to theoretical work that takes a small step toward understanding mechanistic principles that make reprogramming of cellular identity possible.

In addition to his position as the Robert T. Haslam Professor of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Biological Engineering at MIT, Arup K. Chakraborty is a founding member of the Ragon Institute for Infectious Disease of MIT, MGH, and Harvard. After graduating from IIT Kanpur (India), he obtained his PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Delaware. After postdoctoral studies at the University of Minnesota, he joined the faculty at the University of California at Berkeley in December 1988.

He rose through the ranks, and ultimately served as the Warren and Katherine Schlinger Distinguished Professor and Chair of Chemical Engineering, Professor of Chemistry, and Professor of Biophysics at Berkeley. He was also head of theoretical and computational biology at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. In September of 2005, Arup moved to MIT. Arup’s research until 2000 focused on quantum and statistical mechanical descriptions of polymers and catalysts.

Since then, the central theme of his research has been the development and application of theoretical/computational approaches to study how T lymphocytes, orchestrators of the adaptive immune response, function. A characteristic of his work is that he collaborates extensively with leading immunologists. Arup’s work at the interface of the physical, life, and engineering sciences has been recognized by many honors that include a NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, the E.O. Lawrence Memorial Award for Life Sciences, the Allan P. Colburn and Professional Progress awards of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, a Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar award, a Miller Research Professorship, and a National Young Investigator award. Arup is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The quantitative biology (q-bio) lecture series is dedicated to dissemination of biological knowledge gained through quantitative experimentation and computational, mathematical, and/or statistical analyses of data. The lectures will be presented by internationally-renowned experts and aimed at the general public. Visit its home page for information on coming seminars.