Faculty at School of Natural Sciences

Utpal Banerjee

Utpal Banerjee

Visiting Distinguished Professor


Contact Information

Elected Memberships

2019 Inducted as Member of the US National Academy of Sciences

2008 Elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

2020 Elected Foreign Fellow, Indian National Science Academy

2019 Elected Foreign Fellow, National Academy of Sciences, India

2009 Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science

2006 Elected President of the Drosophila Board

2010-2012 Elected Director, Genetics Society of America Board

Major Awards

2011 NIH Director’s Pioneer Award

2010, 2006, 2002 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professors Award

2014 117th Faculty Research Lecture, UCLA

2018 Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India

2010 Genetics Society of America Elizabeth W. Jones Award for Excellence in Education

2000 Gold Shield Faculty Prize, UCLA

2019 Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India

Other Honors

2018

2000 One of the Top 20 Professors of the Bruin Century, UCLA Today

1999 Kalfayan Memorial Lecture, University of North Carolina

1998 Margaret E. Early Medical Research Trust Award

1997 Harriet and Charles Luckman Distinguished Teaching Award, UCLA

1997 Eby Award for the Art of Teaching, UCLA

1996 Investigator Award, McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience

1993 American Cancer Society Faculty Research Award

1992 Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award, Department of Biology, UCLA

1990-1992 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Award

1989 McKnight Foundation Scholars Award

1986-1988 Life Sciences Research Foundation Award Burroughs Wellcome Fund Fellow

1983-1986 Del E. Webb Postdoctoral Fellowship

1977-1978 Certificate of Merit, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

1977 Sheshadri Memorial Award of the Delhi University

1976 National Paper Reading Prize

1974 National Science Talent Award

Appointments

1988-1994 Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, UCLA

1994-present Full Professor, Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, UCLA

1996-1997 Interim Chair, Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology

1998-2001 Vice Chair, Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology

2001-2017 Chair, Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology

1997-present Distinguished Professor, Department of Biological Chemistry, Geffen School of Medicine

2006-present Distinguished Professor, Molecular Cell and Devl. Biology

2009-present Irving and Jean Stone Endowed Chair in Life Sciences, UCLA

2005-2021 Co-Director, Broad Stem Cell Research Center

2002-present Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor

2007-2017 Founding Director, Biomedical Research Minor, UCLA College

1990-present Member, Brain Research Institute, UCLA

1988-present Member, Molecular Biology Institute, UCLA

Service

2018-present Senior Editor, eLife ; 2012-2018 :Reviewing Editor, eLife

1995- Editorial Board, Journal of Genetics

2015-2020 Associate Editor PLoS Genetics

2018-2019 Member, Scientific Academic Advisory Committee, Weizmann Institute, Israel

2017-2020 Special Advisor for Bioscience Research Initiatives, Division of Life Sciences, UCLA

2015-2020 Selection Advisory Board, Gruber Genetics Prize

2014 Expert, Peking University International Peer Review

2014 Jury Panel Member, Infosys Science Foundation, Infosys Prize

2014 Member, Selection committee HHMI Professors competition

2013-2020 Advisory Committee Member, inStem, Bangalore, India

1989-2020 Board Member National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore India

2010-2012 Director, Genetics Society of America Board

2008 Member, Larry L. Hillblom Islet Research Center, Advisory Committee

2008, 2011 Member, HHMI College Review Panel

2007 President, Drosophila Board

2007 Chair, Faculty Advisory Committee on Biomedical Research, UCLA College

2007-present Member, Cell Biology Review Panel F05; NIH

2006 President Elect, Drosophila Board

2003-2020 Member, Management Board, National Center for Biological Sciences, India

2002-present Chair, MBI Advisory Committee

2002 Ad hoc member, Genetics Study Section, National Institutes of Health

2002 Ad hoc member, Study Section, National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke

2001-2008 Organizing Committee, Crete Workshop, European Molecular Biology Organization

2001-2003 Scientific Advisor, MedEd International, Inc.

2000-2003 Scientific Advisor, Pharmagen Comm. Inc.

1999-2002 Professor, Department of Human Genetics, David Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA

1999-2003 Member of the Scientific Board, The Hereditary Disease Foundation

1997-2001 Member, Genetics Study Section; National Institutes of Health

1996-present Member, Jonsson Cancer Center, UCLA

1996  Ad hoc member, Biol2 study section, National Institutes of Health

1995 Visiting Faculty, Short Course in Cancer Biology, Eppley Inst., U. Nebraska Med. Cntr.

1995 Ad hoc member, National Society to Prevent Blindness study section, NIH

15 Significant Research Publications

  1. Nagaraj R, Sharpley MS, Yonggang Zhou Y, Chi F, Braas D, Kim R, Clark AT, Banerjee U. Nuclear localization of mitochondrial TCA cycle enzymes as a critical step in mammalian zygotic genome activation. Cell, 168(1-2):210-223. 2017 Jan.
  1. Chi F, Sharpley MS, Nagaraj R, Roy SS, Banerjee U. Glycolysis-Independent Glucose Metabolism Distinguishes TE from ICM Fate during Mammalian Embryogenesis. Developmental Cell. 2020 Apr 6;53(1):9-26.e4. Epub 2020 Mar 19.
  2. Sharpley MS, Chi F, Banerjee U. Metabolic Plasticity drives Development during Mammalian Embryogenesis. Developmental Cell. 2021 August 23. Volume 56, Issue 16:2329-47.e6.
  3. Shim J, Mukherjee T, Mondal BC, Liu T, Young GC, Wijewarnasuriya DP, Banerjee U. Olfactory control of blood progenitor maintenance. Cell. 2013 Nov 21;155(5):1141-5
  4. Mondal BC, Mukherjee T, Mandal L, Evans CJ, Sinenko SA, Martinez-Agosto JA, Banerjee U. Interaction between Differentiating Cell- and Niche-Derived Signals in Hematopoietic Progenitor Maintenance. Cell. 2011. 147, 1589-1600.
  5. Mukherjee T, Kim W, Mandal L, Banerjee U. Ligand independent activation of Notch mediated by Sima/Hif-1α during Drosophila hematopoiesis. 2011, Science, 332, 1210-1213.
  6. Owusu-Ansah E, Banerjee U. (2009) Reactive oxygen species prime Drosophila hematopoietic progenitors for differentiation. Nature, 461, 537-541.
  7. Mandal, L., Augusto-Martinez,J., Evans, C., Hartenstein, V., and Banerjee, U. (2007) A Hedgehog and Antennapedia dependent niche controls Drosophila hematopoietic precursors. Nature, 446, 320-324.
  8. Tsuda, L., Nagaraj, R., Zipursky, S. L., and Banerjee, U. (2002) The EGF Receptor, Sno and Ebi Control Delta Expression in Notch-mediated Induction. Cell, 110, 625-637.
  9. Flores, G., Duan, H., Yan, H-J. Nagaraj, R., Fu, W., Zou, Y., Noll, M., and Banerjee, U. (2000) A combinatorial model of signaling in specification of cell fate. Cell, 103, 75-86.
  10. Lebestky, T., Chang, T., Hartenstein, V. and Banerjee, U. (2000) Specification of Drosophila hematopoietic lineage by conserved transcription factors. Science, 288, 146-149.
  11. Karlovich, C.A., Bonfini, L., Rogge, R., Daga, A., McCallum, L., Czech, M. P., and Banerjee, U. (1995) In vivo functional analysis of the Ras exchange protein Son of sevenless. Science, 268, 576-579.
  12. Bonfini, L., Karlovich, C. A., Dasgupta, C., and Banerjee, U. (1992) The Son of sevenless gene : A putative activator of Ras. Science, 255, 603-606.
  13. Rogge, R. D., Karlovitch, C. A., and Utpal Banerjee (1991) Genetic dissection of a neurodevelopmental pathway: Son of sevenless functions downstream of sevenless and EGF receptor tyrosine kinases. Cell, 64, 39-48.
  14. Banerjee, U., Renfranz, P. J., Hinton, D. R., Rabin, B. A., and Benzer, S. (1987) The sevenless+ protein is expressed apically in cell membranes of developing Drosophila retina: It is not restricted to cell R7. Cell, 51, 151-158.

6 Selected Publications in Undergraduate Education

  1. Evans CJ, Olson JM, Mondal BC, Kandimalla P, (plus 309 undergraduate authors), et al, Clark IE, Johnson T, Banerjee U. A functional genomics screen identifying blood cell development genes in Drosophila by undergraduates participating in a course-based research experience. G3 (Bethesda). 2021 Jan 18;11(1):jkaa028.
  2. A. Anderson, U. Banerjee, C. L. Drennan, S.C.R. Elgin, I.R. Epstein, J. Handelsman, G.F. Hatfull, R. Losick, D.K. O’Dowd, B.M. Olivera, S.A. Strobel, G.C. Walker, I.M. Warner. Changing the Culture of Science Education at Research Universities. Science. January 2011. 14:152-53.
  3. Clark, IE, Romero-Calderon R., Olson JM, Jaworski L, Lopatto D, Banerjee U. "Deconstructing" scientific research - a practical and scalable pedagogical tool to provide evidence-based science instruction. PLoS Biology. 2009 December; 7(12).
  4. Evans C, Olson J, Ngo K, Kim E, Lee N, Kuoy E, Patananan A, Sitz D, Tran P, Do M, Yackle K, Cespedes A, Hartenstein V, Call G, Banerjee U. G-TRACE rapid Gal4-based cell lineage analysis in Drosophila. Nature Methods. 2009 August; 6(8):603-5.
  5. Gerald B. Call, John M. Olson, Jiong Chen, (plus 252 undergraduate authors), and Utpal Banerjee. Genome-wide clonal analysis of lethal mutations in the Drosophila melanogaster eye: comparison of the X-chromosome and autosomes. Genetics. 2007
  6. Chen, J., Call, G., Milchanowski, A., Banerjee, U., et al. Discovery-Based Science Education: Functional Genomic Dissection in Drosophila by Undergraduate Researchers. PLoS Biol. 2005 February; 3(2):59.