Aravinda Chakravarti (born 6 February 1954,

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...

) is a human

geneticist A geneticist is a biologist or physician who studies genetics, the science of genes, heredity, and variation of organisms. A geneticist can be employed as a scientist or a lecturer. Geneticists may perform general research on genetic processe ...

and expert in

computational biology Computational biology refers to the use of data analysis, mathematical modeling and computational simulations to understand biological systems and relationships. An intersection of computer science, biology, and big data, the field also has fo ...

, and Director of the Center For Human Genetics & Genomics at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

. He was the 2008 President of the

American Society of Human Genetics The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG), founded in 1948, is a professional membership organization for specialists in human genetics. As of 2009, the organization had approximately 8,000 members. The Society's members include researchers, a ...

. Chakravarti became a co-Editor-in-Chief of the journal ''

Genome Research ''Genome Research'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. Disregarding review journals, Genome Research ranks 2nd in the category 'Genetics and Genomics' after Nature Genetics. The focus of the jou ...

'' in 1995, and of the ''

Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics The ''Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Annual Reviews (publisher), Annual Reviews since 2000. It releases an annual volume of review articles relevant to the fields of genomics and hu ...

' in 2005.

Early life and education

Aravinda Chakravarti was born in

in 1954, his family's third son. Their childhood revolved around the importance of education, and he attended the Calcutta Boys' School (CBS). Chakravarti received his Bachelor of Statistics in 1974 from the

Indian Statistical Institute Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) is a higher education and research institute which is recognized as an Institute of National Importance by the 1959 act of the Indian parliament. It grew out of the Statistical Laboratory set up by Prasanta C ...

in Calcutta. He moved to the United States, where he studied with

Masatoshi Nei (born January 2, 1931) is a Japanese-born American evolutionary biologist currently affiliated with the Department of Biology at Temple University as a Carnell Professor. He was, until recently, Evan Pugh Professor of Biology at Pennsylvania S ...

, receiving his PhD in

human genetics Human genetics is the study of inheritance as it occurs in human beings. Human genetics encompasses a variety of overlapping fields including: classical genetics, cytogenetics, molecular genetics, biochemical genetics, genomics, population gene ...

from the

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) is a public academic health science center in Houston, Texas, United States. It was created in 1972 by The University of Texas System Board of Regents. It is located in the T ...

in 1979. Chakravarti took a postdoctoral position at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

until 1980.

Career

Chakravarti was a member of the Department of Human Genetics at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the universit ...

from 1980 – 1993. In 1994 he joined the faculty of

Case Western Reserve University Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) is a private research university in Cleveland, Ohio. Case Western Reserve was established in 1967, when Western Reserve University, founded in 1826 and named for its location in the Connecticut Western Reser ...

as the James H. Jewell Professor of Genetics. In 2000, Chakravarti joined the

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hospi ...

as the Henry J. Knott Professor and the inaugural Director of the McKusick-Nathans Institute of Genetic Medicine at Johns Hopkins. From 2007-2018 he served as director of the Center for Complex Disease Genomics at Johns Hopkins. Chakravarti became director of the Center For Human Genetics & Genomics at

on 2 April 2, 2018.

Research

Chakravarti has made contributions to human genetics in areas including population, statistical genetics, and the genetics of complex disease. He has developed important genomics methods that are now used worldwide, such as linkage disequilibrium mapping, His research has contributed to understanding

linkage disequilibrium In population genetics, linkage disequilibrium (LD) is the non-random association of alleles at different loci in a given population. Loci are said to be in linkage disequilibrium when the frequency of association of their different alleles is h ...

and

genetic variation Genetic variation is the difference in DNA among individuals or the differences between populations. The multiple sources of genetic variation include mutation and genetic recombination. Mutations are the ultimate sources of genetic variation, ...

. He has combined population genetics and genomic technology to effectively address problems in medical genetics. Chakravarti helped to identify the genetic mutation involved in

cystic fibrosis Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a rare genetic disorder that affects mostly the lungs, but also the pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine. Long-term issues include difficulty breathing and coughing up mucus as a result of frequent lung infections. O ...

and discovered a genetic variant related to

autism The autism spectrum, often referred to as just autism or in the context of a professional diagnosis autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or autism spectrum condition (ASC), is a neurodevelopmental condition (or conditions) characterized by difficulti ...

. His methods have been used to identify recombination hotspots in

hemoglobinopathies Hemoglobinopathy is the medical term for a group of inherited blood disorders and diseases that primarily affect red blood cells. They are single-gene disorders and, in most cases, they are inherited as autosomal co-dominant traits. There are t ...

. Chakravarti also studies

sudden cardiac death Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

. His team has studied

Hirschsprung disease Hirschsprung's disease (HD or HSCR) is a birth defect in which nerves are missing from parts of the intestine. The most prominent symptom is constipation. Other symptoms may include vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and slow growth. Symptoms ...

(HSCR) and determined the key genes and non-coding mutations responsible, demonstrating that the disease is caused by mutations of multiple genes. HSCR is now considered a model for the study of complex disease, in part due to Chakravarti's development of experimental techniques. This research may help researchers to better understand complex diseases such as

schizophrenia Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social withdra ...

and

. Chakravarti has been influential in genetics research projects including the

Human Genome Project The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with the goal of determining the base pairs that make up human DNA, and of identifying, mapping and sequencing all of the genes of the human genome from both a ...

, 1000 Genomes and

HapMap The International HapMap Project was an organization that aimed to develop a haplotype map (HapMap) of the human genome, to describe the common patterns of human genetic variation. HapMap is used to find genetic variants affecting health, disease a ...

. As a member of the advisory council of the National Human Genome Research Institute, Chakravarti chaired the Human Genome Project from 1997 to 2000. He was involved in designing the population genetics sampling plan for the 1000 Genomes Project.

Awards

* 2018, Chen Award,

Human Genome Organization The Human Genome Organisation (HUGO) is a non-profit organization founded in 1988. HUGO represents an international coordinating scientific body in response to initiatives such as the Human Genome Project. HUGO has four active committees, includin ...

(HUGO) * 2015, Member,

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

* 2014, Member,

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

* 2013,

William Allan Award The William Allan Award, given by the American Society of Human Genetics, was established in 1961 in memory of William Allan (1881–1943), one of the first American physicians to conduct extensive research in human genetics. The William Allan ...

: This award is given out each year to a scientist who has made substantial contributions to understanding human genetics. * 2008, Member,

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

* 2007, Member, US

National Academy of Medicine The National Academy of Medicine (NAM), formerly called the Institute of Medicine (IoM) until 2015, is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Medicine is a part of the National Academies of Sciences, En ...

Gallery

File:Planning the Future of Genomics, Foundational Research and Applications in Genomic Medicine meeting.jpg File:Planning the Future of Genomics, Foundational Research and Applications in Genomic Medicine meeting2.jpg

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chakravarti, Aravinda 1954 births Living people American geneticists Scientists from Kolkata University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston alumni University of Pittsburgh faculty Case Western Reserve University faculty Johns Hopkins University faculty Annual Reviews (publisher) editors Members of the National Academy of Medicine