Gaurav Chopra promoted to James Tarpo Jr. and Margaret Tarpo Associate Professor of Chemistry
2024-11-19
The Purdue Provost's Office has approved the promotion of Gaurav Chopra to James Tarpo Jr. and Margaret Tarpo Associate Professor of Chemistry.
Chopra’s groundbreaking contributions, visionary leadership, and commitment to advancing chemistry and biology through AI make him an exceptional candidate for the Tarpo Associate Professorship. His work not only advances Purdue’s strategic goals but also addresses some of the most pressing challenges in health and disease today.
His lab’s interdisciplinary research merges chemistry, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and immunology to develop novel approaches for drug discovery, particularly in treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s.
Chopra’s innovative work on lipid accumulation in brain cells, which had been overlooked for more than a century, has redefined our understanding of neurodegeneration. Through AI-guided drug discovery platforms, his research has uncovered therapeutic strategies for neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative diseases, demonstrating the potential to slow or reverse disease progression.
His recent achievements include being awarded the NIH NCATS ASPIRE Grand Prize for his AI-based drug discovery automation platform, which has already been implemented in NIH laboratories and pharmaceutical pipelines, such as Merck & Co.
His ability to combine machine learning with experimental validation distinguishes Dr. Chopra from his peers. His work is not only recognized for its scientific rigor but also for its potential clinical applications. His publications in Nature, Chemical Science, and ACS Measurement Science have received high-impact recognition in the scientific community, while his ongoing NIH-funded research aims to further accelerate drug discovery through large language model-based AI systems.
Chopra’s leadership extends beyond his research group. As the Director of the Merck-Purdue Center, he has secured more than $3 million in funding to support interdisciplinary research across the university. His collaborative approach to science is evident through his ability to attract significant funding from federal agencies and industry partners, totaling more than $16 million in external grants, of which $8 million has directly supported his group’s research.
His vision and execution have earned him prestigious fellowships, including the Scialog Fellowship for Automating Chemical Laboratories and the College of Science Leadership Award in 2024.
In addition to his research, Chopra is a dedicated mentor, having guided numerous students and postdoctoral fellows. Many of his mentees have secured prestigious positions in academia and industry, a testament to his commitment to nurturing the next generation of scientists.
He has also received several teaching awards, including the Undergraduate Advising Award from Purdue's College of Science, and his innovative approaches to education, such as the MINT virtual reality drug discovery game, have made significant impacts on student learning and public engagement.
About Purdue Chemistry
The Tarpo Department of Chemistry is internationally acclaimed for its excellence in chemical education and innovation, boasting two Nobel laureates in organic chemistry, the #1 ranked analytical chemistry program, and a highly successful drug discovery initiative that has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties.
About Purdue University
Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.