Dr. Sethu Pitchiaya is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urology and Department of Pathology, at Michigan Medicine. Sethu earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry, specializing in chemical biology, under the mentorship of Dr. Nils Walter at the University of Michigan and trained with Dr. Arul Chinniayan at the University of Michigan Medical School for his postdoctoral fellowship in translational prostate cancer research. Through a rich and diverse training in Michigan, Sethu has garnered expertise across numerous disciplines including molecular biology, cell biology, chemical biology, biophysics, cancer biology and bioinformatics. Leveraging this interdisciplinary experience, the Pitchiaya lab seeks to understand how mammalian cells respond to stress and how these programs go awry in degenerative pathologies and cancer. The lab uses an integrated approach that combines contemporary imaging and omics technologies with classical methods to address foundational mechanisms and identify paths for translation into diagnostics and therapeutics. Sethu’s research has been supported by numerous foundation and federal awards, such as the American Association for Cancer Research Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Prostate Cancer Foundation Young Investigator Award, NCI-Prostate SPORE Career Development Award, and Department of Defense Idea Development Award to name a few. Recently, the Pitchiaya lab received an R35-Maximizing Investigators Research Award (Outstanding Investigators Award) from the NIH-NIGMS. His work has been published in high quality journals including Nature, Cell, Nature Genetics, Nature Cell Biology and Molecular Cell. Throughout his research career, Sethu has served as a proud mentor of over 50 students at all levels, all of whom have embarked on exciting career paths. Outside of work, Sethu loves experimental cooking and is a national park junkie – he has visited 26 parks in the USA, thus far.
Pitchiaya Lab 