Sridar Chittur: Leading a Team of Scientific Discovery

 

Three young professionals from the University at Albany, Sridar Chittur, research scientist at the Center for Functional Genomics; Kevin Galuski, assistant director of athletics; and Michael Boots, sponsored programs associate in the Office of the Vice President for University Development, help comprise this year�s 40 Under Forty honorees by The Business Review. The program, in its ninth year, recognizes the business accomplishments and community involvement of 40 businesspeople under the age of 40.

At UAlbany's Cancer Research Center(CRC), scientist Sridar Chittur is surrounded by some "cool toys", as he calls them. They are large, expensive, cutting-edge machines, like a DNA-microarray system, that allow Chittur to find abnormalities in human cells responsible for causing cancer and other diseases.

The most important piece of equipment, however, can fit into the palm of Chittur's hand. The device is a genechip, allowing researchers to look at an entire human genome to see how treatment is affecting all of the genes.

"We can make an impact on somebody's life, which makes our job worth something," said Chittur, director of the DNA Microarray Core Facility and adjunct faculty in the Department of Biomedical Sciences in the School of Public Health.

Chittur's impact is resonating beyond the grounds of UAlbany's East Campus, where the DNA Microarray Core Facility is located. Chittur is working within the Capital Region community to build partnerships with businesses and organizations. He often works with neurologists to study multiple sclerosis, as well as veterinarians to examine cardiac disease in dogs.

Recently, Chittur was named one of The Business Review's "40 Under Forty" for his accomplishments and community involvement. However, the humble Chittur prefers to share his success with his two lab assistants, noting that his work is part of a collaborative effort among a team of people at CRC's Center for Functional Genomics (CFG).

That effort has helped build the University's visibility and reputation, secure grant-funding, recruit top-notch researchers and market its students in competitive scientific job fields.

The work of CFG researchers, including Chittur, extends around the globe, manifested in a world map posted on one of CRC's hallways. The map is dotted with dozens of different colored pins, each marking the country or city in the world that has sent samples to the labs for testing. It's an indication that UAlbany can provide a global perspective for its students and be a place where diverse thinking drives innovation and learning. The map also represents how the Center is helping accelerate biological research and discovery worldwide.

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