Bimal Desai

Bimal grew up in Mumbai, India and came to US for graduate training in biomedical research. For his PhD training in Immunology, he used chemical biology and biochemical approaches to study cell signaling (advisor: Dr. Stuart Schreiber, HHMI & Department of Chemistry, Harvard University). During his postdoctoral training, Bimal became interested in how electrical signals govern biological processes. He focused on ion channel physiology and calcium signaling (advisor: Dr David Clapham, HHMI & Boston Children’s Hospital). In 2012, Bimal started his research lab in the Department of Pharmacology at UVASOM. The Desai Lab seeks to understand the how immune cells use electrical signals to rapidly interpret the physical and chemical changes in their tissue environment, and the consequences of these processes on host defense, inflammation, and tissue homeostasis. His most important talent in this endeavor has been to recruit incredibly talented and hard-working trainees to his lab and simply talk to them about interesting questions, ideas, experiments, and data. Bimal spends most of his free time with his teenage daughter, often relearning from her all the math he has forgotten. While trying to stay fit, he listens to (too many) podcasts about history and geopolitics. Bimal enjoys watching (or occasionally playing) cricket, squash, and chess.