Deepak Shukla

Deepak Shukla
Born	Varanasi, India
Residence	USA
Nationality	USA
Fields	Herpes Virologist
Institutions	University of Illinois at Chicago.
Alma mater	BHU, Varanasi, India.
Known for	Herpesvirus Entry Receptor, Virus Host Interactions, Herpes Simplex Keratitis
Notable awards	American Herpes Foundation - Award for Excellence in meritorious Herpesvirus Research(2001), Lew Wasserman Merit Award from Research to Prevent Blindness INC.(2009)

Deepak Shukla, (born in India) is an American molecular virologist with expertise in herpesviruses.

Early life and education

Shukla was born in Varanasi, (Sir Sunderlal Hospital of Banaras Hindu University). Varanasi. He studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya, BHU and then obtained his bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from BHU. He also obtained a master’s degree in Biochemistry before joining the University of Illinois at Chicago for a PhD degree in Microbiology and Immunology. In 1996 he was awarded his PhD. He received his postdoctoral training with Dr. Patricia Spear (a member of the National Academy of Sciences, USA) at Northwestern University in Chicago. In 2001 he joined UIC, as an assistant professor of virology. He is jointly employed by the UIC department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences and Microbiology & Immunology. Currently he serves as the Marion Schenk Esq. Professor of Ophthalmology. He is also a professor of virology and the director of the Ocular Virology Laboratory of UIC.

Family

Shukla married Arunima Dixit in Chicago in 1992. They have three children: Navika, Shivali and Sajal. Shukla’s father, Ram Chandra Shukla, is a well-known artist from India. His mother, Kala Rani Shukla and father have seven children, Rekha, Pradeep, Dileep, Prakash, Rachana, Anand. Deepak is the youngest of the seven siblings. They all, except Deepak Shukla, live in India.

Shukla’s work & International Awards

Shukla has been directly associated with the discoveries of HSV-1 entry receptors. Besides 3-O sulfated heparan sulfate, he also cloned and characterized the receptors (HVEM, nectin-1 and 3-O sulfated heparan sulfate)for experimental HSV-1 infection in mice. His more recent works include identifaction of a phagocytosis-like pathway for HSV-1 entry into ocular cells and significance of heparan sulfate as a regulator of cell-to-cell fusion. He also discovered viral surfing in herpesviruses. His laboratory was first to implicate Syndecans in HSV-1 entry and cell-to-cell fusion. He has also used his knowledge of HSV-1 entry mechanism to identify new reagents to protect and treat HSV-1 infection in laboratory animals. His work has also focused on genital herpes and ways to control the spread of the disease. Based on his scientific discoveries he has been recognized by various research and merit awards from the American Herpes Foundation (2001), Illinois Society to Prevent Blindness (2004), The Glaucoma Foundation (2007) and Research to Prevent Blindness Inc. He has contributed very strongly to the discovery of HSV-1 entry receptors and establishing a link between the receptors and HSV-1 induced ocular diseases such as keratitis and retinitis. He has authored over 60 internationally recognized papers on herpesviruses and several book chapters.

Recognition

He was awarded the American Herpes Foundation award^[1] for herpesvirus research in 2001 for his discovery of a receptor for herpes simplex virus type-1(HSV-1) entry receptor. This receptor called 3-O sulfated heparan sulfate is expressed by all natural target cells for the virus. His work on HSV-1 and its effect on eye diseases (keratitis, retinitis) was most recently recognized by the Research to Prevent Blindness Inc., which awarded him the prestigious Lew Wasserman Merit Award in 2009. He became a naturalized citizen of the US in 2007. He currently lives in Chicago, Illinois serving as the director of the ocular virology laboratory of the University of Illinois at Chicago. In 2010 he was made the Marion Schenk Esq. Professor of Ophthalmology. He has authored over 61 internationally recognized papers on herpesviruses and how they interact with their human hosts.

References

1. ^ http://www.ihmf.com/globallinks/wld_usa.asp

• American Herpes Foundation
• Research to Prevent Blindness Inc.
• The Glaucoma Foundation
• Illinois Society to Prevent Blindness
• A Novel Role for 3-O-Sulfated Heparan Sulfate in Herpes Simplex Virus 1 Entry
  

External links

• Deepak Shukla
• Faculty at Illinois University
• A novel role for phagocytosis-like uptake in herpes simplex virus entry (2006)
• Prof. Ram Chandra Shukla - Father of Deepak Shukla
• Viral entry mechanisms: simplicity drives complexity by Deepak Shukla
• RPB LEW R. WASSERMAN MERIT AWARDS

Persondata
Name	Shukla, Deepak
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Place of birth	Varanasi, India
Date of death
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