Utpal Banerjee

Biography

Dr. Banerjee is also a member of UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center, the Brain Research Institute, the Neuroscience Graduate Program, has a joint appointment in the Department of Biological Chemistry, and he serves as director of the UCLA Interdepartmental Minor in Biomedical Research. A native of New Delhi, India, Dr. Banerjee earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University, India and obtained a master’s degree in physical chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India. In 1984, he earned a doctorate in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Banerjee’s transition into the field of biology resulted from his postdoctoral training with scientist Seymour Benzer at Caltech, where he conducted research in the molecular neurogenetics of eye development in Drosophila, the common fruit fly. He joined the UCLA faculty in 1988.

Research Interest

maintenance of blood stem cells within a microenvironment where signals from a niche are important for the maintenance of quiescence within a precursor population. Lack of such a niche-derived signal causes loss of “stemness,” resulting in increased proliferation and differentiation.