Deepak Shukla

Deepak Shukla (born in India) is an American molecular virologist with expertise in herpesviruses. He contributed to the discovery of HSV-1 entry receptors and establishing a link between the receptors and HSV-1 induced ocular diseases such as keratitis and retinitis. He has authored over 60 published papers and several book chapters on herpes viruses.

Shukla was born in Sir Sunderlal Hospital of Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. He studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya BHU and obtained his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from BHU. He also obtained a master’s degree in biochemistry before joining the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) for a PhD degree in microbiology and immunology. In 1996 he was awarded his PhD. He received his postdoctoral training with Dr. Patricia Spear (a member of the National Academy of Sciences) at Northwestern University in Chicago.

He is the youngest son of Kala Rani Shukla and Ram Chandra Shukla. He has six siblings: Rekha, Pradeep, Dileep, Prakash, Rachana, and Anand, who all live in India. Deepak Shukla became a naturalized citizen of the US in 2007.

In 2001 Shukla joined UIC as an assistant professor of virology. He is jointly employed by the UIC Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Science and the Department of Microbiology and Immunology. Currently he serves as the Marion H. Schenk Esq. Professor in Ophthalmology. He is also a professor of virology and the director of the Ocular Virology Laboratory of UIC.

Shukla has been directly associated with the discoveries of HSV-1 entry receptors. Besides 3-O sulfated heparan sulfate, he also cloned and characterized the receptors (HVEM, nectin-1 and 3-O sulfated heparan sulfate) for experimental HSV-1 infection in mice. His more recent works include identification of a phagocytosis-like pathway for HSV-1 entry into ocular cells and significance of heparan sulfate as a regulator of cell-to-cell fusion. He also discovered viral surfing in herpesviruses. His laboratory was first to implicate syndecans in HSV-1 entry and cell-to-cell fusion. He has also used his knowledge of HSV-1 entry mechanism to identify new reagents to protect and treat HSV-1 infection in laboratory animals. His work has also focused on genital herpes and ways to control the spread of the disease.

His work has been recognized with merit awards and research grants from various organizations, including from the American Herpes Foundation (2001) for herpesvirus research and his discovery of a receptor for HSV-1 entry; the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (2002–present); the Illinois Society to Prevent Blindness (2004); The Glaucoma Foundation (2007 and 2010); and the National Eye Institute (2013-present). Shukla received the Lew Wasserman Merit Award from Research to Prevent Blindness in 2009.

• "A novel role for 3-O-sulfated heparan Sulfate in herpes simplex virus 1 entry" (1999)
• "A novel role for phagocytosis-like uptake in herpes simplex virus entry" (2006)
• "Viral entry mechanisms: simplicity drives complexity" (2009)