He earned his B.Tech in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay in 1985 and his Doctor of Philosophy from the California Institute of Technology in 1990 with Jay Bailey working on the expression of the Vitreoscilla Hemoglobin gene.
He did his postdoctoral work at the John Innes Centre with David Hopwood. He has been a professor at Stanford since 1992 and was the chair of the program His research is focused on two realms, the first are to build a molecular understanding of polyketide synthases and the second is focused on the biochemistry of celiac disease particularly involving tissue transglutaminase.
His group play a large role in identifying the role of the α2-gliadin fragment in immune responses.
His early research on natural product polyketides led to the founding of Kosan Biosciences in 1995. His work on celiac sprue has resulted in the founding of Alvine Pharmaceuticals and the start of the non-profit, Celiac Sprue Research Foundation.
He also serves as an advisor to LS9, Incorporated and Joule Unlimited.
He has won numerous awards including the Alan T. Waterman Award (1999), the Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry (1999), the American College of Surgeons Award in pure chemistry (2000), and the James E. Bailey Award (2011). He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the recipient of a Distinguished Alumnus Award from Caltech.
American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
