Asim Dasgupta

Biography

Asim Dasgupta is a virologist and molecular biologist who has served on the UCLA School of Medicine faculty since he joined the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics in 1981. He became a full professor in 1989 and has served as Graduate advisor for the department from 1984 to 1995. He also served as the Vice-Chairman of the department from 1992-1995. Dr. Dasgupta earned his B.S. in Chemistry and M.S. Biochemistry from Calcutta University, India, followed by a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry/Biochemistry from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institutes of Technology, where he worked on RNA virus replication in the laboratory of Dr. David Baltimore. Dr. Dasgupta received the prestigious American Cancer Society Faculty Research award as well as the NIH Career Development Award.

Research Interest

His laboratory research centers on RNA virus replication as well as transcriptional and translational control in cells infected with mammalian RNA viruses such as poliovirus, rhinovirus and hepatitis C virus (HCV). In 1994, Dr. DasguptaÂÂ’s laboratory discovered a natural antiviral molecule from the yeast S. cerevisiae, which was shown to specifically block internal ribosome entry site (IRES)-mediated translation of viral RNAs. Currently a major focus of his laboratory has been to design molecules that specifically interfere with HCV genome translation and replication.