Newswise — October 3, 2024 — The 2025 recipient of the American Society for Investigative Pathology (ASIP) Rous-Whipple Award is Dr. Anindya Dutta, Endowed Professor and Chair of the Department of Genetics at the University of Alabama – Birmingham (Birmingham, AL).
The ASIP Rous-Whipple Award was first awarded in 1976 and was established in honor of the Presidents of the American Society for Experimental Pathology (ASEP) and the American Association of Pathologists and Bacteriologists (AAPB) when the coalesced societies emerged as the American Association of Pathologists (AAP, which was later renamed the ASIP in 1992). The ASIP Rous-Whipple Award is presented to a senior scientist with a distinguished career in research who has advanced the understanding of disease and has continued productivity at the time of the award, including impactful science, teaching, mentorship, leadership in the field of pathology, and contributions to the Society.
Dr. Dutta earned an MBBS from the University of Madras (India) in 1981. He then completed a residency in medicine at Christian Medical College Hospital (Vellore, India). Dr. Dutta subsequently earned a PhD from The Rockefeller University (New York, NY) in 1989. He completed postdoctoral training at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (Cold Spring Harbor, NY), and also at Brigham and Women's Hospital (Boston, MA). Dr. Dutta was appointed Assistant Professor in Pathology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School in 1993, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 1999. In 2003, Dr. Dutta relocated to the University of Virginia School of Medicine where he was appointed Harry F. Byrd Professor in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and Professor in Pathology. In 2011, Dr. Dutta assumed the role of Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics at the University of Virginia. In 2018, Dr. Dutta became the Harrison Family Distinguished Professor in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics and Professor in Pathology. In 2021, Dr. Dutta moved to The University of Alabama – Birmingham to become Endowed Professor and Chair of the Department of Genetics, where he continues to serve today.
Dr. Dutta is an internationally recognized leader in the control of genome stability in normal and transformed cells. His discovery of the essential role of geminin in preventing over-replication of DNA, published in Science in 2000, is a landmark in the field. These studies led to the identification of additional factors that prevent over-replication, the DNA damage pathways activated by the over-replication, and the recognition of the mechanism by which Pevonedistat exerts its anti-cancer effect. Dr. Dutta’s laboratory has made seminal contributions to the understanding of genome instability, including the identification of extrachromosomal circles of DNA (eccDNA) in normal and cancer cells and demonstrating that the circles from cancers are released into the blood and can be exploited as a biomarker. The long eccDNA in cancers is now thought to form the basis for oncogene amplification and over-expression in many cancers, and has generated widespread interest as a target for therapy. Dr. Dutta’s laboratory discovered several genes involved in human diseases, e.g. the ORC subunits, Geminin and Cdt1, that are mutated in a genetic disorder called Meier Gorlin syndrome, and UBE2T, that is mutated in Fanconi Anemia subtype T. The laboratory discovered various anomalies in the cell-cycle and DNA replication regulation that lead to changes in gene copy number, while at the same time provided the basic foundational discovery explaining the mechanism of action of Pevonedistat, a first-in-class anti-cancer agent. On a completely different front, noncoding RNAs, the laboratory discovered many microRNAs important for cancer progression and cell differentiation and wrote an influential review on the field in Annual Review of Pathology in 2009. Dr. Dutta’s research group discovered a novel family of short RNAs, tRFs (or tsRNAs) that have since been implicated in viral pathogenesis and dysregulation of gene expression in cancers, and studied several long noncoding RNAs, including DRAIC and LINC00152, that have a significant role in regulating the pathologic phenotypes of cancer cells.
In his letter of nomination, Dr. Christopher A. Moskaluk (Walter Reed Professor of Pathology and Chair of the Department of Pathology, University of Virginia School of Medicine) writes: “[Dr. Dutta] is a leading investigator in two separate fields of molecular biology, whose productivity and track record of high impact discovery have led to a reputation that is international in scope. Trained as a pathologist, Anindya’s work focuses on elegant basic science but has implications for disease mechanism. He has an eye for translation, particularly in the field of cancer biology.”
Dr. Dutta is author of 215 publications. He publishes regularly in journals with very high impact factor (Cell, Nature, PNAS, Science, Molecular Cell, Nature Communications, and others). He has contributed to the best pathology journals, including The American Journal of Pathology. He has received over 33 million dollars in grant funding mostly as PI, and currently is the principal investigator on 2 active NIH R01 grants.
In his nomination letter, Dr. Abul K. Abbas (Distinguished Professor and Past Chair of the Department of Pathology, University of California, San Francisco) describes Dr. Dutta’s research as “…consistently innovative and explores new questions...” He continues, “…This is exemplified by his impressive record of published work in the world’s best journals, and his excellent research support. He is also recognized as a leader by his colleagues. He is a frequently solicited reviewer of grants and papers, and has served on numerous review committees, scientific advisory boards and editorial boards…”
Dr. Dutta has been an active member of the ASIP for over 25 years, contributing to the Society with meaningful service and leadership. He has been a Chair and/or organizer of ASIP sessions and symposia at 4 national meetings on the topics of cell cycle, cell growth and differentiation, and gene regulation. He has also served on the ASIP Program Committee. In 2015, Dr. Dutta received the ASIP Outstanding Investigator Award.
In his letter of nomination, Dr. Gene P. Siegal, (Distinguished Professor & Interim Chair - Department of Pathology, Robert W. Mowry Endowed Professor of Pathology, and Professor of Surgery, Genetics & Cell, Developmental and Integrative Biology, University of Alabama – Birmingham) described Dr. Dutta as “…a very innovative and productive thinker, but what is particularly striking is his continuous interest in using the basic science discoveries to explain phenomena in clinical medicine, particularly cancer...” Dr. Siegal adds, “…In the last year [Dr. Dutta] has been invited to speak at a Gordon Research Conference, an EMBO workshop and a Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Symposium in Quantitative Biology…” Notably, Dr. Dutta has mentored nearly 100 trainees, most of whom are active in research in academia or industry in laboratories across the world.
Dr. Anindya Dutta will receive the 2025 ASIP Rous-Whipple Award during the of the ASIP in Portland, OR (April 2025).
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About ASIP
The American Society for Investigative Pathology is comprised of biomedical scientists who investigate mechanisms of disease. Investigative pathology is an integrative discipline that links the presentation of disease in the whole organism to its fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms. It uses a variety of structural, functional, and genetic techniques and ultimately applies research findings to the diagnosis and treatment of diseases. ASIP advocates for the practice of investigative pathology and fosters the professional career development and education of its members.
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