Professor of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology, and of Medicine,
Indiana University School of Medicine – Indianapolis
Change is afoot for David P. Basile, PhD, a former WashU Nephrology postdoctoral research fellow and now a prominent researcher and professor of anatomy, cell biology & physiology at
Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. In early July, Indiana University and Purdue University Indianapolis (previously collectively called IUPUI) reorganized, with the newly branded Indiana University-Indianapolis maintaining health sciences disciplines,
including the School of Medicine. Leadership says it is focused on rapidly escalating basic, translational, and clinical research efforts across the campus as it moves into its next chapter.
“The reorganization has generated a lot of excitement,” Basile says. “Ultimately, this will have an impact on us here at the medical school as a number of IU – Indianapolis initiatives should
dovetail with advances in research and patient care, such as the establishment of the new Bioscience and Technology Institute as well as the Institute for Human
Health and Wellbeing.”
The change takes place as Basile gears up to take over as the new graduate advisor for his department’s doctoral program at the end of this year while continuing his own scientific investigations and teaching responsibilities. “My lab is focused primar ily on the pathophysiology of acute kidney injury (AKI), chronic sequelae and potential translational therapeutic approaches to treat kidney disease,” he says. “We have long focused on the long-term effects of AKI and subsequent predisposition to chronic kidney disease related to sustained alterations in vascular function and inflammation. Recently, we received a renewal of our NIH/NIDDK R01 grant for the 5th cycle.”
Basile has been at IU School of Medicine since 2005. He rose to the rank of professor in the Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology & Physiology in 2019 and now also serves as a professor in the Department of Medicine’s Division of Nephrology. His interest in renal research was sparked when he started his postdoctoral research efforts, first at Washington University from 1994 to 1998 and then at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee for an additional year.
“At WashU, I was a postdoctoral researcher in Marc Hammerman’s lab and wanted to gain insight into the potential role of growth factors in kidney repair or development,” he says. “In the 90s, there were not many tools available to study growth factor biology in vivo, and I had not yet developed any skills in molecular biology. Marc was able to provide me with good opportunities to get training and experience in areas I wished to pursue. My work was focused on understanding the TGF-beta system in the setting of ischemic AKI. Although I no longer work directly on that now, it was the pursuit of this that ultimately drove me down the road to investigate the long-term sequelae of AKI, which has been the primary focus of my research group for years.”
He remembers his time at WashU as being surprisingly flexible. “Marc was pretty hands off on day-to-day lab activities and supported flexibility on how to pursue things,” Basile recalls. “He was very good about providing feedback, but he also gave me a lot of room to craft the direction of my research.”
Basile was encouraged early on to apply for career development grants noting, “Nothing can prepare you for this other than to go through it. Marc is an incredibly good writer, and I got some excellent advice on research strategy and grant writing from him and others in the division. Dr. Steven Miller’s lab was across the hall, and he also was very generous with his time. He was doing interesting work related to kidney injury, which helped to inspire a lot of ideas.”
What he remembers fondly are the friendships he made along the way, including, he says, “Adriana Dusso, Alex Brown, and Cindy Ritter in Dr. Slatapolsky’s lab and Beth Lee in Dr. Gluck’s lab. I also had some great colleagues in Dr. Hammerman’s lab including Babu Padanilam and Chris Sorenson. Also, Dr. Andy Lewington, who came from the UK—we enjoyed a great friendship and played lots of recreational soccer on a team aptly named “Grumpy Old Men!” Lynn Wesselman was Marc’s administrative assistant, and she was a huge dog lover, so we spent a lot of time talking about our dogs. Somehow, she found a Christmas ornament that looked just like the dog my wife and I adopted. We still put that on our tree every year!”
He tries to find time for golf and cooking and he and his wife, Debbie, spend time vacationing with their two adult children in the Great Lakes area when they can. He ticked off a bucket list trip to Tuscany last year that included daily cooking classes, trips to wineries and visits to the surrounding region. Says Basile with a laugh, “I do need to find new activities to fill some voids now that the kids are grown up!”