Ravi Gupta PhD MRCP
Professor of Clinical Microbiology & Principal Investigator, CITIID
Interviewed November 2024 - Emily Thomas, (PhD student, co-chair Communications and Outreach Committee)
Where are you from and where did you complete your education?
As my dad was a junior doc andworked all over the country, I was in fact born in Sunderland, but grew up inEssex would you believe? I went to Brentwood School, further out, and had awonderful time there.
What does your lab do?
We have worked in HIV drug resistance both at molecular and population levels for over a decade and our work led to change in WHO treatment guidelines for HIV. We also have an interest in reservoirs of HIV and cure. On the innate immunity side we have been working to understand the implications of cell cycle transitions in macrophages for some years now, showing for example that G0-G1 transition under low oxygen conditions is associated with a host of cellular changes that make macrophages really susceptible to HIV infection. During the COVID-19 pandemic we deployed our expertise in RNA virus genetics and biology to show SARS-CoV-2 variants arise in immune compromised individuals and revealed changes in biology of VOC. During COVID we also got interested in adaptive immune responses and now study vaccine responses in vulnerable populations as well as imprinted immunity.
Describe yourself in three words?
Hyperactive, curious, sporty.
Do you have a hidden talent?
Despite hating languages at school, I realised as a young adult I was also not bad at them and now speak 4 (English, Hindi, French and Spanish) at good level. Even tried my hand at some of the famous works in French and Spanish literature.
What is the trait you most deplore in others?
I think we all have positive and negative traits. I try to see the best side of people, but I don’t like pre-judgement whether it is around race, socio-economic status or other characteristic.
What inspired you to pursue a career in science?
As a medic I wanted to contribute new knowledge to the world, having read and learned what others had done before me. My scientific journey has been largely driven by needs I perceived in human health, particularly around HIV/AIDS and more recently COVID-19.
Who was the most influential person that taught you as an undergraduate?
Peter Abrahams – he made anatomy at Cambridge super interesting and had a filled lecture theatre on Saturday mornings! From memory he was a GP and therefore explained anatomy in terms of functional characteristics. Marvellous. I looked him up and he has gone on to write textbooks and apps for anatomy teaching.
What advice would you give to aspiring scientists?
I would say work on something you are interested in, in a good lab, rather than working with someone who is super famous. This is because motivation is everything in science and in order to persevere you really have to believe in what you are doing and why you are doing it.
Can you share a memorable moment from your career?
Standing ovation from around 4000 people at the big HIV science meeting called CROI in 2019 when I presented data on the London patient – the second recorded case of HIV cure - 10 years after the first case. We were all so relieved and emotional that the first case wasn’t a fluke. This meant we really could cure HIV.
Now what about your most embarrassing moment?
I must have been 8 or 9 at primary school. I had a friend called James Lee (not our old colleague) who sat next to me and he put his hand up one day and said ‘Miss, Ravi keeps telling me to piss off’. I think I had just heard the phrase and didn’t really know what it meant….
What’s the most interesting place you’ve visited?
The ‘refugee camps’ in Northern Thailand where Karen Burmese fled in the 1980s. I spent a summer there working on malaria research with the Oxford Tropical medicine program.
Where is your favourite place in Cambridge?
My office of course! Aside from that I love Grantchester.
If you could time travel, where and when would you go?
Mars 200 years from now… though the past is interesting, the future is where my imagination lies. That’s my excuse for watching the same sci fi series ‘The Expanse’ over and over.
Finally, what is your favourite immune cell?
The macrophage of course! A target of so many pathogens as well as an orchestrator and effector in so many tissues.
