Sayan Mukherjee, Renowned Duke Professor And Multidisciplinary Scholar, Dies At 54
Photo: Max Planck Institute
India-West News Desk
DURHAM, NC – Sayan Mukherjee, a Professor of Statistical Science, Mathematics, and Biostatistics & Bioinformatics at Duke University, passed away unexpectedly on March 31. He was 54.
A pioneering scholar known for bridging disciplines, Mukherjee’s research spanned statistics, mathematics, computer science, biology, and medicine. His work focused on developing computational and statistical methods to analyze complex, high-dimensional data—advancing fields from cancer genomics to medical imaging.
Mukherjee joined Duke in 2004, initially through the School of Medicine’s Computational Biology and Medicine Initiative. Over the years, he became a campus leader in computational genomics, statistical modeling, and the geometry of data. In 2015, he was promoted to full professor.
One of his most recognized contributions was Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), a statistical method that helps identify groups of genes involved in disease processes such as cancer. More recently, his work in topological data analysis contributed to innovations in medical imaging, offering new ways to detect and understand diseases.
Since 2022, Mukherjee had been in Germany, where he held the prestigious Alexander von Humboldt Professorship for Artificial Intelligence, jointly appointed at Leipzig University and the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences. He maintained an active role at Duke even while abroad.
“Sayan was a brilliant scientist who cared deeply about science, our human condition and individual people,” said Duke colleague Jonathan Mattingly. “He was a dedicated mentor… He will be deeply missed.”
Born in India, Mukherjee earned his Ph.D. from MIT in 2001, followed by a Sloan Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Broad Institute. Over his career, he built an international reputation and forged lasting relationships with students and collaborators alike.
A celebration of life will be held April 19 at 10:30 a.m. in Gross Hall 107 at Duke University.
