The Bard of HST — Shiv Pillai

To see a performance of Shiv Pillai's poem, see Youtube.

A Conversation with the Bard of HST, Shiv Pillai

By Arvind Ravi, MD Student

In the immunology world, Associate Professor Shiv Pillai is best known for pioneering work describing the development and fate of B cells. Ask any HST student, however, and you will quickly realize that he has also established himself as the commensurate teacher-entertainer, fusing a limitless knowledge with a captivating lecture style.

In retracing his youth, it is not so surprising that he would eventually come to present both research and rhymes at scientific meetings. As a 15-year old, he showed promise in science as a winner of India's National Science Talent Search. At the same time, "I always had a slight literary bent," he recalls, avidly reading books on science, such as Paul de Kruif's Microbe Hunters, which profiled leading personalities in microbiology.

"It was research that drew me into medicine — the research I had read about was very medicine-oriented" he recalls, deciding at 16 to begin his medical training in India at an old missionary hospital that had been converted into a Christian medical college, "the kind of place where people don't work for money," he recalls fondly.

Even then, he was able to split his time between his many interests. "Writing and performing, that's always been there: in my medical school days I was a serious thespian. I was part of a drama group that produced some very well know actors in India -- one had a lead role in Passage to India. I acted for many years, so I guess there was this thespian urge in me which was not fulfilled." He also enjoyed serving as editor for his school magazine, where he would contribute "little rhymes" every now and again.

In the summers, he pursued research in the immunology of leprosy, which "was very interesting from an immunology perspective because of the polar forms of disease." His mentor convinced him to begin a PhD after his medical internship.

In spite of a relatively successful research career at the time, garnering "some of the awards given to young scientists in India," as he modestly describes, friends of his who had moved to America began to convince him that by not following suit, his scientific training and exposure would suffer. "They told me I was setting my standards too low."

Despite these suggestions, he remained unconvinced that he could seek out a better opportunity abroad until attending one of the Gordon Conferences in the early '80s: "I went and met David Baltimore, and I decided that I wanted to come and work with him. After being in the lab for about a year, I knew I wouldn't be going back to India."

Pillai found the scientific transition to America a relatively easy one, as was the cultural transition for the most part: "From my point of view, American culture was sitting in a fast car with a coke in your hand, and when I came to America, I found out everything I thought was true" he quips.

"I grew up in a slightly westernized culture, listening to Crosby, Stills and Nash, and the Beatles, so there wasn't a culture shock. The most difficult thing was learning how to use an ATM and order a sandwich (because of all of the options)." However, after a brief practice session arranged by his friends, he was able to manage both quite easily.

At the end of his postdoctoral training, "I was recruited by Kurt Isselbacher [to Massachusetts General Hospital], and I've been there ever since." Initially, his focus at the MGH Cancer Center was on allelic exclusion, the process by which self-reactive cells of the immune system are vetted. "I started looking at allelic exclusion thinking that if you had defects in it, you would have autoimmunity. More recently our work has taken a very strong clinical bent, as it is turning out to be very interesting in humans in terms of lymphomagenesis and autoimmunity."

During the course of his career, he has uncovered many facets of B cell development from how cell fate decisions are made to detecting new sites of maturation. "Most B cells grow in follicles, but we discovered that there is a second niche in the bone marrow around sinusoids ? the perisinusoidal niche." While his successes in research are numerous, including identifying the function of the defective kinase involved in a specific immune deficiency known as X-linked agammaglobulinemia, "the most exciting period in the lab has been the last year and a half," when the group made further progress in linking allelic exclusion to autoimmunity. Pillai describes the shift as both "very clinical, and very satisfying."

While training the next generation of scientists was always a part of his research career, his first formal foray into HST teaching came in 1997 with the course "Cellular and Molecular Immunology." Even then, Pillai remembers inserting the occasional rhyme into his course lecture: "I guess my use of rhyme evolved slowly. In my first couple of years, I recited a poem I knew well (A.E. Housman's "Terence, this is stupid stuff"). For one year, when Hidde (the course co-director) was on sabbatical, I taught the undergrads, and I soon discovered that it was important to provide entertainment as well."

In transitioning back to the HST curriculum, he noted that keeping the students engaged actually didn't require much effort. "There's no question in my mind that you can't find a better group of students around than in HST...it's a very inquisitive class." Even so, he has continued to hone his poetry skills because "I realized that this is a good way to teach. One of my goals now is to have every lecture have a rhyme in it."

His unique take on lectures has earned him notoriety both in the classroom and at scientific meetings; a few years ago, he recited his famous "Lymphocyte Rap" at a meeting in Crete. "I do it as much for the student's entertainment as mine — I have to confess I enjoy performing. I think it's a device to help you learn...it's also very entertaining for me on long flights" he jokes. "It's become my calling card."

In looking back at a career that has also allowed him to be part teacher and part performer, Pillai has been very satisfied with his choice to pursue research. "We are all fortunate that we live in an era were we actually can be funded to do research because it really is something we do for pleasure. To be prepared to do research you should be prepared for failure and difficulties, but the rewards are so great that you ignore those. Rarely do we do something that strongly original, and we work towards that again and again."

as published in the fall issue of HST's newsletter, The Connector