Ved Chauhan

Dr. Ved Chauhan, 69, of Staten Island, New York, passed away on March 6, 2023. Ved was the Head of the Cellular Neurochemistry Laboratory at the New York State Institute for Basic Research in Developmental Disabilities (IBR). He received his M.S. in 1975 and his Ph.D in 1980 from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), in Chandigarh, India, where he also met his wife, Abha.

Ved moved to the United States from his native India in 1981. After working as a Research Associate for two years at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, he joined IBR as a Research Scientist in 1983. Ved loved his work, and during his illustrious 38 year career at IBR, he made significant contributions to the scientific community. He published over 100 research articles and many book chapters in the field of Alzheimer’s disease, autism, environmental risk agents, cellular signal transduction, and membrane biochemistry. He was awarded several research grants as the Principal Investigator from National Institutes of Health (NIH), Alzheimer’s Association, Cure Autism Now Foundation and Autism Research Institute. Ved was the editor of the books entitled “Autism: Oxidative stress, inflammation and immune abnormalities” and “Studies on Psychiatric Disorders: Oxidative Stress in Applied Basic Research and Clinical Practice.” He also served as Associate Editor and Editorial Board Member of many scientific journals. In addition, he organized and chaired several national and international symposiums on autism.

Ved was driven by a sense of duty to selflessly help others, and gave freely without the expectation of anything in return. Whether it was a 3 AM airport drop-off for a friend, heavy lifting for an event at the Hindu temple, or shoveling snow to help an elderly neighbor, Ved did not hesitate to shoulder more to make the lives of those around him just a bit easier.

Ved was a person of impact. He and his close friends founded the Staten Island Boardwalk Club and had been walking together daily for 5 miles for 18 years at sunrise or sunset - rain, snow or arctic wind. Ved's commitment to this daily walk gave him lifelong friendships, deep conversations, and many laughs. He was also a founding member of the Golden Age Community organization, helping bring seniors in the community together for social and community events to celebrate NY's cultural diversity and South Asian festivals. Ved was a person of great faith, and an active volunteer at the Staten Island Hindu temple.

Ved was full of joy. He was the first on the dance floor at any wedding, the loudest person in the room to sing Happy Birthday, full of eagerness to share his culture and stories about his village in India, excited to try new cuisines, and loved traveling internationally with his wife.

Although Ved was a central figure in his community, the roles that defined Ved the most were a loving husband to his wife of 42 years, Abha, Papa to his daughters Deepti and Neha, father-in-law to their respective husbands Bhavin and Matt, and Nanu to his grandchildren Chris, Mayan, Riley and Simran. They will miss eating his famous PapaVed’s pizza, seeing him play on the floor with childlike wonder and energy with his grandchildren, and simple moments of contagious laughter at the kitchen table. Throughout his life, he showered his family with unconditional love and his presence will always be deeply missed.