Arul M. Chinnaiyan
The information listed below is current as of the date the transcript was finalized.
Interview Details
Interview Sessions
Abstract of Interview
Arul M. Chinnaiyan was born near Cleveland, Ohio, but spent his first years in a suburb of Chicago, Illinois, the elder of two sons whose parents came from India. His father was an electrical engineer, his mother a housewife. When Chinnaiyan was about thirteen the family moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where his father had taken a job. Chinnaiyan had always liked the sciences, but his high school biology teacher made the subject come alive. He was also interested in computers and sports, especially tennis, playing on his high school team. By his junior year in high school, Chinnaiyan says he knew he wanted to study molecular biology or cell biology. Because it was a good school for biology; because it was close to home; because his father was ill with diabetes; and because the tuition was manageable, Chinnaiyan decided to attend the University of Michigan. He worked in Stephen Weiss's lab during summers and part time during the school year. There he worked on proteases in neutrophils with his mentor. Chinnaiyan's father died while Chinnaiyan was in college; this helped him decide to enter the Medical Scientist Training Program at University of Michigan to obtain an MD/PhD. He began in Jeffrey Bonadio's lab, where he learned molecular biology, but he became fascinated by apoptosis and joined Vishva Dixit's lab at a time when the field of apoptosis was growing rapidly. From his research came the discovery of FADD, as well as twenty-one publications, some of which he had to hand deliver in order to beat his competitors. After three years of research, Peter Ward persuaded him to complete his residency in clinical pathology at the University of Michigan. He established his lab and became interested in studying biomarkers for prostate cancer. He started a DNA microarray facility too. Chinnaiyan remained at Michigan as an assistant professor in pathology and urology. He established the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology. He had not been trained to write grants, but he made up for lost time, winning many awards and honors and becoming a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. At the end of the interview he talks about learning to write grants and discusses his application for the Pew Scholars in the Medical Sciences award. He describes how he recruits students and postdocs; talks about publishing; and talks about lab time. He concludes his interview with thanks to his mother, who helped make all his work possible.
Education
Year | Institution | Degree | Discipline |
---|---|---|---|
1992 | University of Michigan | BS | Cellular and Molecular Biology |
1999 | University of Michigan | MD/PhD | Pathology, under Vishva M. Dixit |
Professional Experience
University of Michigan School of Medicine
Honors
Year(s) | Award |
---|---|
1998 | Horace H. Rackham Distinguished Dissertation Award, Rackham School of Graduate Studies, University of Michigan |
1998 | Amersham Pharmacia Biotech and Science Prize, North American Region, Uppsala, Sweden |
1999 | Medical Degree “With Distinction in Research,” University of Michigan Medical School |
1999 | Faculty Development Award, Prostate S.P.O.R.E., University of Michigan Medical School |
1999 | Dean’s Award for Research Excellence, University of Michigan Medical School |
2000 | Cheryl Whitlock Pathology Memorial Prize, Stanford University School of Medicine |
2001 | CapCURE Research Award |
2001 | Wendy Will Case Cancer Fund Award |
2002 | Excellence in Urologic Pathology Research, USCAP Annual Meeting |
2002 to 2006 | Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences |
2004 | Young Investigator Award, Society of Basic Urological Research |
2005 | Amgen Outstanding Investigator Award, American Society for Investigative Pathology |
2005 | Basic Science Research Award, University of Michigan Medical School Dean’s Office |
2006 | The Benjamin Castleman Award, United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology |
2006 | Elected Member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation |
2006 | S.P. Hiocks Endowed Professor of Pathology |
2006 | Burroughs Wellcome Foundation Award for Clincal Translational Research |
2007 | United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology Ramzi Cotran Young Investigator Award |
2007 | Society of American Asian Scientists in Cancer Research Award |
2007 | Inaugural AACR Team Science Award, Americn Association of Cancer Research |
2007 | SPORE Translational Science Award |
2008 | Outstanding Achievement in Cancer Research, American Association of Cancer Research |
2008 | Department of Defense Era of Hope Scholar |
2009 | Doris Duke Foundation Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award for Excellence in “Bench to Bedside” Research |
2009 | Elected Member of the Association of American Physicians |
2009 | American Cancer Society Research Professor |
2009 | Elected Member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies |
2009 | Philip Levine Award for Outstanding Research, American Society of Clinical Pathology |
2009 | Crain’s Detroit Business 40 Under 40 Award |
2009 | Paul Marks Prize for Cancer Research, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center |
Table of Contents
First years in Chicago suburb. Family background. Early interest in biology, computers, and sports. Tennis team. Schools. Move to Michigan. High school interest in molecular biology or cell biology. Science Olympiad.
Matriculates into the University of Michigan. Father's diabetes. Liberal arts curriculum. Possible art history major. Deciding on biology major. Works on proteases in neutrophils in Stephen Weiss' lab. Honors thesis. Deciding to go into medicine. Switching to interest in research. Decides on MD/PhD program.
Chooses University of Michigan. Structure of MD/PhD program. Rotates into Jeffrey Bonadio's lab to learn more molecular biology. Fascinated by new field of apoptosis. Joins Vishva Dixit's lab. Discovering FADD. Fast-growing, competitive field of apoptosis. Twenty-one papers. Residency in clinical pathology. Designing his own lab, courtesy of Peter Ward. Interest in prostate cancer. Sets up DNA microarray facility.
Goes straight from residency to faculty position at University of Michigan. Minimal clinical work. Writes first grant. Discusses grants in general, Pew in particular. Gene fusion in application for Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences grant. Establishes Michigan Center for Translational Pathology. Epigenetics; genomics; proteomics; metabolomics. Time at bench; publishing; recruiting students and postdocs.
About the Interviewer
David J. Caruso earned a BA in the history of science, medicine, and technology from Johns Hopkins University in 2001 and a PhD in science and technology studies from Cornell University in 2008. Caruso is the director of the Center for Oral History at the Science History Institute, president of Oral History in the Mid-Atlantic Region, and editor for the Oral History Review. In addition to overseeing all oral history research at the Science History Institute, he also holds an annual training institute that focuses on conducting interviews with scientists and engineers, he consults on various oral history projects, like at the San Diego Technology Archives, and is adjunct faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, teaching courses on the history of military medicine and technology and on oral history. His current research interests are the discipline formation of biomedical science in 20th-century America and the organizational structures that have contributed to such formation.