Immunologist And Microbiologist Sankar Ghosh, Ph.D., To Head Department Of Microbiology At Columbia University Medical Center
NEW YORK (Nov. 26, 2008) - Sankar Ghosh, Ph.D., renowned for his contributions to the current understanding of the human immune system, will join Columbia University Medical Center Dec. 1, 2008, as chair of the Department of Microbiology, whose faculty is ranked in the top five nationally for scholarly productivity. Dr. Ghosh comes to Columbia from Yale University School of Medicine, where he spent 17 years, most recently as a professor in the Department of Immunobiology and the Department of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry.
An immunologist and microbiologist, Dr. Ghosh is best known for his work on the role of the Nuclear Factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B / NF-kB) transcription factor family in the mammalian immune response. Because NF-kB plays an important role in regulating the expression of a number of genes involved in inflammation and the immune responses, his research has implications for the treatment of arthritis, colitis, dermatitis, asthma, and other inflammatory diseases, as well as diseases such as cancer and muscular dystrophy. In recognition of his many years of focus on illuminating this immune response pathway, Dr. Ghosh was elected last year as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the country’s oldest and most prestigious scientific societies.
“Over the past two decades, Dr. Ghosh’s work with NF-kB has dramatically improved our understanding of the human immune response,” said Lee Goldman, M.D., executive vice president of Columbia University and dean of the faculties of health sciences and medicine at Columbia University Medical Center. “Under Dr. Ghosh’s leadership, our Department of Microbiology will continue to pioneer critical basic research that leads to new insights into how we think about and treat a wide range of immunologic and infectious diseases.”
Dr. Ghosh will join an active department known for its scientific vigor. Columbia’s Department of Microbiology ranks fourth in scholarly productivity on a national list compiled by The Chronicle of Higher Education. The list measures the productivity of faculty members based on publications, federal-grant dollars received, and honors and awards.
“Columbia’s Department of Microbiology stands out both for the caliber of its students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty and for its commitment to understanding the molecular basis of infectious diseases,” said Dr. Ghosh. “I am glad to have the opportunity to continue my research alongside these scientists, and I look forward to continuing to build on the department’s noted strengths in molecular genetics, immunology, and virology.”
Dr. Ghosh has served in an advisory capacity for several organizations, including the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Cancer Institute and the Advisory Board of the Center on Immune Receptors at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. He is currently a member of the Board of Management of the National Center for Biological Sciences in Bangalore, India; the Scientific Review Board of the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation; and the Scientific Review Council of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. He also serves on the editorial board of multiple journals including Immunity, Molecular and Cellular Biology and the Journal of Biological Chemistry. He has published more than 100 articles.
Dr. Ghosh received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from Calcutta University and his Ph.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Before taking a position at Yale, he carried out his postdoctoral research at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at MIT.
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