Chaitan Khosla is an Indian biochemist who is the Wells H. Rauser and Harold M. Petiprin

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

and

Chemistry Chemistry is the science, scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the Chemical element, elements that make up matter to the chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions ...

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. He earned his

B.Tech. A Bachelor of Technology (Latin ''Baccalaureus Technologiae'', commonly abbreviated as B.Tech. or BTech; with honours as B.Tech. (Hons.)) is an undergraduate academic degree conferred after the completion of a three to five-year program of stud ...

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

from

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay or IITB) is a public research university and technical institute in Powai, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is considered as one of the best engineering universities in India and is top ranke ...

in 1985 and his Ph.D. from the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

in 1990 with Jay Bailey working on the expression of the ''Vitreoscilla'' Hemoglobin gene. He did his postdoctoral work at the

John Innes Centre The John Innes Centre (JIC), located in Norwich, Norfolk, England, is an independent centre for research and training in plant and microbial science founded in 1910. It is a registered charity (No 223852) grant-aided by the Biotechnology and B ...

with David Hopwood. He has been a professor at Stanford since 1992 and was the chair of the program. His research is focused on two realms, the first are to build a molecular understanding of

polyketide synthase Polyketides are a class of natural products derived from a precursor molecule consisting of a chain of alternating ketone (or reduced forms of a ketone) and methylene groups: (-CO-CH2-). First studied in the early 20th century, discovery, biosynth ...

s and the second is focused on the biochemistry of

celiac disease Coeliac disease (British English) or celiac disease (American English) is a long-term autoimmune disorder, primarily affecting the small intestine, where individuals develop intolerance to gluten, present in foods such as wheat, rye and barl ...

particularly involving

tissue transglutaminase Tissue transglutaminase (abbreviated as tTG or TG2) is a 78-kDa, calcium-dependent enzyme () of the protein-glutamine γ-glutamyltransferases family (or simply transglutaminase family). Like other transglutaminases, it crosslinks proteins between ...

. His group play a large role in identifying the role of the α2-gliadin fragment in immune responses. His early research on natural product polyketides led to the founding of

Kosan Biosciences Kosan Biosciences, Inc. (stock symbol: KOSN), was a pharmaceutical company which dealt with cancer therapeutics medications. The company was working on advancing two new classes of anticancer agents through clinical development: heat shock prote ...

in 1995. His work on celiac sprue has resulted in the founding of Alvine Pharmaceuticals and the start of the non-profit, Celiac Sprue Research Foundation. He also serves as an advisor to LS9, Inc and

Joule Unlimited Joule Unlimited, formerly known as Joule Biotechnologies, was a producer of alternative energy technologies based in Bedford, Massachusetts. The company developed a process to generate hydrocarbon-based fuel by combining non-fresh water, nutrients ...

. He has won numerous awards including the

Alan T. Waterman Award The Alan T. Waterman Award, named after Alan Tower Waterman, is the United States's highest honorary award for scientists no older than 40, or no more than 10 years past receipt of their Ph.D. It is awarded on a yearly basis by the National Scien ...

(1999), the

Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry The Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry was established in 1934. Consisting of a bronze medal and honorarium, its purpose is to stimulate fundamental research in biological chemistry by scientists not over thirty-eight years of age. The Award i ...

(1999), the

ACS Award in pure chemistry The American Chemical Society Award in Pure Chemistry is awarded annually by the American Chemical Society (ACS) "to recognize and encourage fundamental research in pure chemistry carried out in North America by young men and women." "Young" me ...

(2000), and the Jay Bailey Award (2011). He was elected a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

in 2009 for engineering molecular assembly lines, developing metabolic engineering technologies, and advancing biopharmaceutical discovery. He is also a fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

and a recipient of a Distinguished Alumnus Award from Caltech.

References

External links

Stanford BioChaitan Khosla Seminars: "An Introduction to Polyketide Assembly Lines"
Living people American biochemists Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Stanford University School of Engineering faculty Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering California Institute of Technology alumni IIT Bombay alumni Indian chemical engineers {{US-academic-scientist-stub