Dr. Ujjwal Neogi

Dr. Ujjwal Neogi, Ph.D., is the director of the Center for Systems Infection Biology, Senior Lecturer in Systems Biology and Docent of Virology, at Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. He obtained his doctoral degree from Karolinska Institutet (KI) in 2013. In 2018, he established the Systems Virology Lab at Karolinska Institute, a state-of-the-art interdisciplinary research platform that integrates virology, immunology, computational biology, engineering, and clinical science. The primary goal of this initiative is to advance the understanding of viral pathogenesis. The lab pioneered in understanding metabolic rewiring in RNA virus infection by using systems biology studies and fingerprinting those using in vitro and in vivo studies.

He has a longstanding research interest to understand the mechanisms of natural immune control in viral infection, focusing on HIV-1 infected individuals called elite controllers, who control HIV-infection spontaneously and more recently to other emerging and re-emerging viruses like SARS-CoV-2 and Crimean–Congo hemorrhagic fever viruses (CCHF). His group aims to identify the molecular mechanisms of natural control, primarily in HIV, and to develop novel functional cure strategies by engineering the metabolic state of the immune cells. The studies are being expanded to other pathogen including flaviviruses (Japanese encephalitis, Zika and Dengue viruses), alpha viruses (Chikungunya viruses). In a systemic approach, his group applies high-throughput multi-omics technologies, spatial omics, super resolution microscopy, and organ-on-chip along with in vitro and ex vivo experimental methods to understand immunometabolic control of viruses as a novel therapeutic approach. He is the Principal Investigator for the European Union HORIZON Research & Innovation Grant (COMBAT: 101191315) that advances dengue research and pandemic preparedness, by developing new antiviral strategies and applying multi-modal technologies to unravel dengue pathogenesis. He is also the lead and co-supervisor for VIBES (MSCA Doctoral Network, 101312032) which brings together virology, artificial intelligence, and biophotonics in a convergent approach to develop innovative antiviral strategies against emerging flaviviruses. His research is funded by European Commission, Swedish Research Council, and Karolinska Institute Consolidator and Doctoral Student grants. Within MERIT, he is the lead from Karolinska Institutet and main supervisor of DC12 together with co-supervisor Dr. Iva Filipovic, investigating metabolic reprogramming for therapeutic target against alphaviruses. He is also a co-supervisor for DC14 and DC15.