Soumitra was born and raised in Pune, India. Following BS-MS studies in Chemistry and Biology at IISER Pune, he travelled to the US for doctoral studies at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign under the supervision of Prof. Scott E. Denmark. Soumitra's research was focused on elucidating the mechanism of the Soai reaction. This extraordinary transformation displays the unique phenomenon of amplifying asymmetric autocatalysis, can generate enantioenriched products starting from achiral reactants by spontaneous symmetry breaking, and has received widespread attention from diverse chemical fields. Its mechanism had remained elusive for more than two decades. Soumitra’s investigations have produced the first comprehensive mechanistic picture of this iconic reaction and provide a foundation for further explorations in the field of asymmetric autocatalysis and the evolution of homochirality.

In late 2019, Soumitra joined Professor Frances H. Arnold's group at Caltech as a postdoctoral scholar, expanding his expertise into protein engineering and directed evolution. He has been involved in the development of nitrene transferase enzymes, breaking new ground in the nitrogen functionalization of C–H bonds. The enzymes Soumitra has worked on have contributed to the asymmetric C–H amidation of benzylic positions, and the site and enantioselective derivatization of unactivated and unbiased C–H bonds, a reaction unprecedented in both biology and synthetic chemistry. These new enzymes can be considered as the nitrogen counterparts of the venerable P450 heme-monooxygenases. The work opens new opportunities for the biocatalytic manufacturing of nitrogen compounds, will assist fundamental enzymological studies of nitrene transfer reactions, and may inspire the design new pathways for nitrogen metabolism.

Since July 2023, Soumitra is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA.

– C&EN’s 2026 Talented 12

– ACS PRF 2026 Doctoral New Investigator

– 2026 Herbert Newby McCoy Award “for the greatest contribution of the year to the science of chemistry and biochemistry” among all faculty in the Chemistry and Biochemistry department, UCLA

– National Institutes of Health (NIH) Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA R35) for Early Stage Investigators (ESI) 2026

– W. M. Keck Foundation 2025 Bridge Funding

– ACS Green Chemistry Institute Pharmaceutical Roundtable (ACS-GCIPR) 2025 Ignition Grant

–UCLA Society of Hellman Fellows

–Seaborg Award, Beta Gamma Chapter of Alpha Chi Sigma, UCLA, 2025

–Appointed as the inaugural John D. and Edith M. Roberts Term Chair in Organic Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, UCLA

–Finalist, 2021 Merck Research Award for Underrepresented Chemists of Color

–2021 ACS Green Chemistry Institute (ACS GCI) Pharmaceutical Roundtable Student Travel Grant

–Co-winner, 2nd Merck Compound Challenge 2020 – a global retrosynthesis competition that saw participation from 132 teams. Participated and won as a single-member team. The other winner was a ten-member group from MPI, Mulheim, Germany. News highlights by Merck, Merck India, Chemistry UIUC, Bio-Patrika.

–2020 ACS Green Chemistry Institute, Pharmaceutical Roundtable (ACS-GCIPR) Research Grant

–Coleman Fellowship 2017-2018, Departmental Fellowship 2015-2016, Chemistry Department, UIUC

–DAAD-WISE 2012 Fellow for summer internship at the University of Gottingen, Germany

–INSPIRE Fellowship from Department of Science and Technology (DST), India during study at IISER Pune (2008-2013)

–Gold Medal at the Indian National Chemistry Olympiad Training Camp for IChO 2008 at HBCSE, TIFR