Bonnie Chakravorty

Hello everyone!

I am Bonnie Chakravorty, originally from Chicago, Illinois but I have lived in other parts of Illinois as well as Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Washington, DC. I now live in Nashville, Tennessee. I have three adult daughters who live with their spouses in Boston, Seattle, and Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

I was a professor of Public Health Sciences until my retirement in 2014.  My research focused on HIV/AIDS, Multiple Sclerosis, and tobacco addiction and cessation.

I was diagnosed with adult-onset asthma around 1986. In 1996, I started working at Tufts University, also known as “the light on the hill.” I found it increasingly difficult to walk up that hill and I figured I needed to change my asthma treatments. I went to my new physician who insisted that before changing my prescriptions I needed a full pulmonary workup. During the workup, the allergist said that he thought my breathing issues were due to Alpha-1. As a tobacco researcher, I knew that while smoking was the major cause of COPD and emphysema, Alpha-1 was sometimes the culprit. Believing that Alpha-1 was a very rare disease that only happened to Swedish people (I am not Swedish) I almost refused the test! I decided to humor the allergist and was I ever flabbergasted when I came up positive for Alpha-1! From that day forward, I became involved with AlphaNet and went on weekly augmentation infusions. I soon joined the Board of Directors of AlphaNet, on which I served for eighteen years. Through AlphaNet, I also met my late husband Doug Turley who was then himself an AlphaNet Coordinator.

I managed my condition very well but in 2014, it became apparent that lung transplantation was my best option for a longer, healthier life.  In 2017, I underwent a single lung transplant and have done well – well enough to place second in the women’s over 70 division of the Nashville Zoo’s 5k run.

My hobbies include South Asian language learning, weight training, running, comedy clubs, forensic epidemiology, doll collecting, and caring for my two cats, dog, and numerous saltwater fish. I am an avid reader, and my favorite authors run the gamut from Hubert Selby J., Charles Bukowski, Roddy Doyle, Anchee Min to Ann Rule. I am a fan of Jeopardy, the Golden Girls and just about anything true crime related. I co-moderate a Facebook group for fans of the British comedy Are You Being Served? I am also a voluntary Tennessee Donate Life Ambassador for Tennessee Donor Services.

I am happy to be back working in the AlphaNet family helping others with Alpha-1 achieve their best and healthiest lives.