Arup K. Chakraborty

Institute Professor
Professor of Chemical Engineering, Physics, and Chemistry
Understanding the mechanisms underlying the immune response to pathogens for the design of better vaccines; phase separation in gene regulation.

Research Interests

Statistical Mechanics, Molecular and Cellular Immunology, Immune response to HIV, Vaccine development, Gene regulation in mammals.

Biographic Sketch

Arup K. Chakraborty is one of 12 Institute Professors at MIT, the highest rank awarded to a MIT faculty member. He served as the founding Director of MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, and he is a founding member of the Ragon Institute of MIT, MGH, and Harvard. For over two decades, Chakraborty’s work has largely focused on bringing together approaches from immunology, physics, and engineering. His interests span T cell signaling, T cell development and repertoire, and a mechanistic understanding of virus evolution, antibody responses, and vaccine design. Since 2016, Chakraborty has also been interested in the role of phase separation in gene regulation. Chakraborty is one of only 25 individuals who are members of all three branches of the US National Academies – National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medicine, and National Academy of Engineering. He is also a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and has received many other honors including the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, the E. O. Lawrence Medal, and the Colburn, Professional Progress, and Prausnitz Institute Lectureship from the AIChE. Chakraborty has received 6 teaching awards for his classroom teaching, and 24 of his former lab members are now faculty members at universities around the world. He is a co-author of the recent book “Viruses, Pandemics, & Immunity”. Chakraborty served on the US defense Science board since 2013, and is a member of the Board of Governors of the Wellcome Trust.

Awards & Honors

  • 2023 // Max Delbrück Prize in Biological Physics (APS) "for the leading role in initiating the field of computational immunology, aimed at applying approaches from physical sciences and engineering to unravel the mechanistic underpinnings of the adaptive immune response to pathogens, and to harness this understanding to help design vaccines and therapy."
  • 2021 // Named Institute Professor (MIT)
  • 2021 // Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award, Chemical Engineering Department, MIT
  • 2021 // John M. Prausnitz Institute Lecturer, American Institute of Chemical Engineers
  • 2020 // Schiesser Distinguished Lecture, Lehigh University
  • 2020 // Outstanding Graduate Teaching award, Chemical Engineering department, MIT
  • 2019 // Doctor of Engineering honoris causa, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology
  • 2018 // John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship
  • 2018 // Moore Distinguished Scholar, Caltech
  • 2017 // Elected, Member of the National Academy of Medicine
  • 2016 // Elected, Member of the National Academy of Sciences
  • 2012 // Outstanding Graduate Teaching award, Chemical Engineering department, MIT
  • 2009 // Outstanding Graduate Teaching award, Chemical Engineering department, MIT
  • 2008 // Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • 2008 // Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Technology-Kanpur
  • 2007 // Elected, Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2007 // E.O. Lawrence Award for Life Sciences, DOE
  • 2006-11 // NIH Director’s Pioneer Award
  • 2005 // Presidential Citation for Outstanding Achievement, Univ. of Delaware
  • 2005 // Dept. of Chem. Eng. Teaching Award, UC Berkeley
  • 2005 // Engineering Foundation Endowed Lectureship, U.T. Austin
  • 2004 // Elected, Member of the National Academy of Engineering
  • 2004 // Professional Progress Award, American Institute of Chemical Engineers
  • 1999-00 // Research Prof., Miller Inst. for Basic Science, Berkeley
  • 1996 // Allan P. Colburn Award, American Institute of Chemical Engineers
  • 1996-97 // AIChE, Berkeley Student Chapter, Appreciation for Distinguished Teaching
  • 1994 // Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award
  • 1993-98 // Royal Academy of Engineering (U.K.), ICI Fellowship
  • 1992-97 // National Young Investigator Award
  • 1989-92 // Shell Young Faculty Fellow

Key Publications

  • Lee et al, Science (2003)

  • Das et al., Cell (2009)

  • Kosmrlj et al, Nature (2010)