Profile
// What About Us
Chandravanu Dash, PhD
Core Director | Developmental Core
Executive Committee Member
// About Me
Biography
Biography
Dr. Dash is Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Physiology and the Executive Director of the Center for AIDS Health Disparities Research (CAHDR) at Meharry Medical College. He received his PhD from the National Chemical Laboratory, University of Pune in India and post-doctoral training at the HIV Drug Resistance Program, NCI-NIH. In 2009, he joined Meharry with an NIH-funded K99/R00 career development grant award. Dr. Dash has over 25 years of experience in retrovirology and has made seminal contributions to the field of HIV/AIDS with more than sixty-five peer-reviewed articles. His research has been continuously supported by the NIH. Currently, Dr. Dash serves as the Director of the Developmental Core of the Tennessee Center for AIDS Research (TN-CFAR) and the Co-director of the NIMHD U54-supported Research Centers in Minority Institutions Program (RCMI) Developmental Core at Meharry. Additionally, he is the PI of two RCMI supplements to upgrade and renovate the BSL2 and BSL3 laboratory facilities at Meharry. He also leads the effort on the NIH R25-supported “Enhancing Virology Training-ENVIT” for minority students, as well as the TN-CFAR site of the national CFAR Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Pipeline Initiative (CDEIPI) training program. For his outstanding contribution to research at Meharry, he was awarded the 2021 Basic Science Researcher of the Year as well as a number of other awards. Dr. Dash is very passionate about training the next generation of scientists and has a long history of mentoring students, fellows, and junior faculty.
More About Chandravanu Dash, PhD
I received my Ph.D. from the National Chemical Laboratory, India. During my thesis research, I discovered an inhibitor of the HIV-1 protease and conducted kinetic analysis to understand the structure-function relationship between the inhibitor and HIV-1 protease and the mechanism of inhibition. Then, I joined Dr. Stuart Le Grice laboratory (NCI-HIV Drug Resistance Program-HIVDRP) as a postdoctoral fellow. At the Le Grice lab I used state-of-the-art nucleoside analog interference mapping to understand the mechanisms of HIV-1 reverse transcription. My postdoctoral studies helped me secure an NIH K99/R00 career development award. During the K99 phase, I gained molecular virology training in the laboratory of Dr. Vineet KewalRamani at the NCI–HIVDRP. Then, I joined the Meharry Medical College Center for AIDS Health Disparities Research (CAHDR) in Nashville, TN as an assistant professor. Meharry CAHDR is an integral part of the Tennessee Center for AIDS Research (TN-CFAR) that fosters collaborative HIV research between Vanderbilt and Meharry. I also hold a secondary appointment at the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt and serve as a member of the Microbial Pathogenesis and Immunology workgroup. My laboratory actively participates in inter-institutional activities including data club, seminar series, workshops and retreats between Vanderbilt and Meharry. These interactions and other scholarly activities have provided my laboratory with unlimited access to the expertise and resources at Vanderbilt. Additionally, through a Collaboration Development Award, I have been collaborating with the Univ. of Pittsburgh HIV Center for Protein Interaction (PCHPI) program headed by Angela Gronenborn. This award has resulted in an ongoing collaboration with the Chris Aiken’s laboratory at Vanderbilt that is located across the street from my laboratory and Alan Engelman of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. I also actively interact with other PCHPI members with expertise in virology, biochemistry, and structural biology through monthly works in progress presentations and annual meetings. I have been an active member of the executive committee of the TN-CFAR since the beginning of this interinstitutional grant. In the first three years, I also served as the co-director of the Personalized Care Scientific Working Group that was charged to leverage the resources of TN-CFAR to enhance collaborations across Meharry, Vanderbilt and TN Department of Health in HIV research. Therefore, I am well suited to serve as the TN-CFAR coordinative investigator in the current application. My role is to implement CFAR strategic plans related to laboratory and translational science at Meharry, and related to Meharry-Vanderbilt collaborations, across researchers and programs at Meharry. I will work very closely with Dr. James Hildreth, President and CEO of Meharry Medical College to achieve the goals of this application.