Dipankar Nandi was born in Kolkata and did his schooling in Mumbai, India. He was awarded the Bachelor’s degree in Science from the University of Bombay in 1983 and the Master’s degree in Microbiology from the M. S. University of Baroda in 1985. He performed his doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley, USA on characterization of epithelial tissue associated T cells and was awarded the PhD degree in 1991. He was introduced to the world of protein degradation during his postdoctoral research at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA while studying the composition and assembly of Interferon-γ-inducible proteasomes. His diverse training led him to investigate two broad areas as an independent faculty member in the Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore from 1997: immune responses and enzymes involved in bacterial protein degradation. His laboratory uses a combination of genetics, biochemistry, and immunology to answer questions regarding microbial and host encoded responses to stress and infection.