Jayanta Debnath (born 1971) is an American physician who specializes in

pathology Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...

. His research focuses on

autophagy Autophagy (or autophagocytosis; from the Ancient Greek , , meaning "self-devouring" and , , meaning "hollow") is the natural, conserved degradation of the cell that removes unnecessary or dysfunctional components through a lysosome-dependent re ...

as it relates to

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. He is the chair of the

University of California, San Francisco The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...

department of pathology and a co-

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

of the '' Annual Review of Pathology: Mechanisms of Disease''.

Early life and education

Jayanta Debnath was born in 1971 in North Carolina where his father

Lokenath Debnath Lokenath Debnath (September 30, 1935 – March 2, 2023) was an Indian-American mathematician. Biography Debnath was born on September 30, 1935, in India. He received both Masters and a doctorate degree from University of Calcutta in Pure Mathem ...

was a professor of mathematics at

East Carolina University East Carolina University (ECU) is a public university, public research university in Greenville, North Carolina. It is the fourth largest university in North Carolina. Founded on March 8, 1907, as a Normal school, teacher training school, East ...

. Debnath attended

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

, graduating in 1992 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry. He then attended

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

for his

Doctor of Medicine Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin language, Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a profes ...

, graduating in 1998. From 1998 to 2003 he completed his internship,

medical residency Residency or postgraduate training is specifically a stage of graduate medical education. It refers to a qualified physician (one who holds the degree of MD, DO, MBBS, MBChB), veterinarian ( DVM or VMD) , dentist ( DDS or DMD) or podiatrist ( ...

, and fellowship in

Brigham and Women's Hospital Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) is the second largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School and the largest hospital in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Along with Massachusetts Gener ...

Career

From 2003 to 2005 he was an instructor of cell biology at Harvard Medical School. In 2005, he joined the faculty of

as an assistant professor. He was promoted to associate professor in 2011 and full professor in 2016. In 2018, he was appointed the chair of UCSF's pathology department, succeeding Abul K. Abbas. In 2021 he was one of the six researchers at UCSF to jointly win the Endeavor Award from the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, which is a US$3 million research grant to study

metastasis Metastasis is a pathogenic agent's spread from an initial or primary site to a different or secondary site within the host's body; the term is typically used when referring to metastasis by a cancerous tumor. The newly pathological sites, then, ...

of cancer. Debnath's research focuses on the cellular process of

and its relevance to cancer, specifically

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

. He formerly served as the chair of the integration panel for the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...

's Breast Cancer Research Program. As of 2021, he is a co-

of the '' Annual Review of Pathology: Mechanisms of Disease''. He has also served as an associate editor of the journal ''

Autophagy Autophagy (or autophagocytosis; from the Ancient Greek , , meaning "self-devouring" and , , meaning "hollow") is the natural, conserved degradation of the cell that removes unnecessary or dysfunctional components through a lysosome-dependent re ...

''.

Awards and honors

In 2021 he was the recipient of the

American Society for Investigative Pathology The American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP) is a society of biomedical scientists who investigate mechanisms of disease. ASIP membership includes scientists in the academic, government, hospital, and pharmaceutical arenas that focus thei ...

's Outstanding Investigator Award.

Personal life

Debnath is

Indian-American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

and speaks

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

as well as English.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Debnath, Jayanta Living people 1971 births Physicians from North Carolina American pathologists American people of Indian descent Georgia Tech alumni Harvard Medical School alumni University of California, San Francisco faculty Annual Reviews (publisher) editors