Artem + Scientia Gallery
PANDEMIC, 2018
BY OBDULIO PILOTO
Molecular self-portrait, acrylic, digital composition, dye sublimation on aluminum.
Mirroring a map of international flight paths, this work charts the physical interconnectedness of human society that places us at great risk for a global pandemic. The artist lays bare his fear that in our age of tremendous scientific and technological advancement, humanity remains unprepared for such a calamity.
Rendering the world map in a red alert of an impending emergency, this work is the artist’s clarion call: to protect humanity and the only planet we have.
Dr. Piloto’s work centers on exploring human identity and its essence in an era of exponential technological advances that redefine what it means to be human.
Artworks depict people, and life in general, as deconstructed mixtures of molecules in a 70-spot ‘molecular portrait’ created using contemporary life-saving technology he co-invented.
Artem + Scientia Gallery
PANDEMIC, 2018
BY OBDULIO PILOTO
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Obdulio Piloto B. 1978 - American.
Dr. Obdulio Piloto (b. 1978) is an American artist-scientist-inventor known for pioneering the Molecular Portrait as a visual language to explore themes of human identity, particularly the essence of humanity.
Born and raised in a traditional Cuban family in Hialeah, Florida – humble beginnings exposed him to the realities of human challenges. Losing his great-grandmother to cancer at the age of 8, initiated his interest in the sciences and urged his lifelong mission to find solutions for one of the world’s most devastating diseases. His natural brilliance and determination earned him a place at Cornell University, he obtained a Ph.D. at Johns Hopkins University Medical School and pursued post-graduate research at Stanford University.
Both art and science play a symbiotic role in his practice. His artworks depict people as deconstructed mixtures of molecules in a 70-spot molecular portrait; an avant-garde series of works that reimagine our entire humanity by reminding us of the interconnectedness of all things, of our place in the universe, and the need of unleashing humanity’s full potential to create a more hopeful future.
Through this visual language, he explores technological displacement as automation, gene editing, artificial intelligence, and extreme wealth inequality take shape in our society, probing the vulnerabilities of the existential human condition.
His work is often political, creating a dialogue between the technological and ideological differences between the East and West and their quest for technological supremacy, and is highly critical of American mainstream culture. His work always revisits the influence of science throughout history and creates parallels that challenge new forms of remembering the past, as he hopes to inspire new ways of imagining the future. He strongly believes the future does not exist, and it is up to us to create it.
His artworks are held in the private collections of Nobel Laureates, business tycoons, venture capitalists, futurists, and supporters. Slowly gaining institutional support. He currently works with Peter Thiel’s Breakout Labs, Singapore’s Temasek Laboratories, and Bill Gates’ Global Good. _
EDUCATION
-Cornell University – B.S. Biological Sciences (microbiology)
-Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine – Ph.D. Cellular and Molecular Medicine
-Stanford University School of Medicine – Post Doctoral Fellow
HONORS
1995- Westinghouse Science Competition
1996-2000- Dean’s List, Cornell University
1998-2000- Ho-Nun-De-Kah Honor Society, Cornell University
2000- Cum laude, Cornell University
2000- Distinction in Research, Cornell University
2006-2007- National Cancer Institute, Cancer Biology Fellowship
2007- American Cancer Society Fellowship
2012- Peter Thiel Foundation Breakout Labs, funding for Entopsis
2014- Awesome Foundation Miami, micro-grant
2016- Disruptive Technology Award (Entopsis), Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce
PATENT APPLICATIONS
1. Piloto O, Cheong I, et. al. “Method and Device for verification of urine”
2. Piloto O, Cheong I, “Detectable Arrays, Systems for Diagnosis, and Methods of Making and Using the Same”
3. Piloto O, Cheong I, Sjöblom T. “A novel statistical algorithm for pattern classification and recognition”
PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS
1. Sum R, Swaminathan M, Rastogi SK, Piloto O and Cheong I. Beta-hemolytic bacteria selectively trigger liposome lysis, enabling rapid and accurate pathogen detection. ACS Sensors (accepted), 2017.
2. Swaminathan M, Yadav PK, Piloto O, Sjöblom T, and Cheong I. Use of a new Poisson-Binomial semi-metric for Image Classification and Recognition. Pattern Recognition, 63: 384–396, 2016
3. Matheny CJ, Wei MC, Bassik MC, Donnelly AJ, Kampmann M, Iwasaki M, Piloto O, Solow-Cordero DE, Bouley DM, Rau R, Brown P, McManus MT, Weissman JS, and Cleary ML. Next-Generation NAMPT Inhibitors Identified by Sequential High-Throughput Phenotypic Chemical and Functional Genomic Screens. Cell: Chemistry & Biology 20, 1–12, 2013.
4. Zheng R, Bailey E, Nguyen B, Yang X, Piloto O, Levis M, Small D. Further Activation of FLT3 Mutants by FLT3 Ligand. Oncogene 30(38), 4004-4014, 2011.
5. Wang Z, Sommervaille T, Murphy MJ, Piloto O, Smith K and Cleary ML. Glycogen synthase kinase 3 in MLL leukemia maintenance and targeted therapy. Nature, 455(7217): 1205-1209, 2008.
6. Li L, Piloto O, Nguyen B, Greenberg K, Takamiya K, Racke F, Huso D, Sun L, Small D. Knock-in of an internal tandem duplication mutation into murine FLT3 confers myeloproliferative disease in a mouse model. Blood, 111(7): 3849-3858, 2008.
7. Kim K, Baird K, Davis S, Levis M, Piloto O, Li L, Chen P, Meltzer P, Small D. Constitutive FLT3 activation results in specific changes in gene expression in myeloid leukemic cells. Br J Haematol. 138(5): 603-615, 2007.
8. Li L, Piloto O, Ye Z, Kim K, Nguyen B, Yu X, Levis M, Cheng L, Small D. FLT3/ITD expression increases expansion, survival and entry into cell cycle of human hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells. Br J Haematol. 137 (1): 64-75, 2007.
9. Piloto O, Wright M, Brown P, Kim K, Levis M, Small D. Prolonged Exposure to FLT3 Inhibitors leads to Resistance via Activation of Parallel Signaling Pathways. Blood 109(4): 1643-1652, 2007.
10. Piloto O, Nguyen B, Huso D, Kim K, Li Y, Witte L, Hicklin DJ, Brown P, Small D. EB10, an anti-FLT3 monoclonal antibody, prolongs survival and reduces NOD/SCID engraftment of some ALL cell lines and primary blasts. Cancer Research 66(9): 4843-4851, 2006.
11. Piloto O, Levis M, Huso D, Li Y, Li H, Wang M, Lu D, Wu Y, Bassi R, Balderes P, Zhang H, Ludwig DL, Pytowski B, Kussie P, Bohlen P, Witte L, Zhu Z, Hicklin DJ, Small D. Inhibitory anti-FLT3 mAb are capable of mediating ADCC and reducing engraftment of AML blasts in NOD/SCID mice without reducing engraftment of normal hematopoietic stem cells. Cancer Research 65(4): 1514-1522, 2005.
12. Zheng R, Levis M, Piloto O, Brown P, Baldwin B, Gorin N, Beran M, Zhu Z, Ludwig D, Hicklin D, Witte L, Li Y, Small D. FLT3 ligand causes autocrine signaling in acute myeloid leukemia cells. Blood 103(1): 267-274, 2004.
13. Li Y, Li H, Wang M, Lu D, Wu Y, Bassi R, Balderes P, Zhang H, Ludwig DL, Pytowski B, Kussie P, Piloto O, Small D, Bohlen P, Witte L, Zhu Z, Hicklin DJ. Suppression of leukemia expressing wild-type or ITD-mutant FLT3 receptor by a fully human anti-FLT3 neutralizing antibody. Blood 104(4): 1137-1144, 2004.
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