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I work as a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Physics at University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the last few years, I have worked at the confluence of engineering and biology. Recently, I switched to research in fundamental physics. Some specific areas that I have worked in are:

• optical lattice clocks for new tests of relativity (recent research);
• colloidal migration and assembly in microfluidic channels under combined shear and electrokinetic flows;
• electrochemical treatment and ultrastructure imaging of biofilms;
• impedance spectroscopy of biological tissues.

Past Research

Thesis: Migration and Assembly of Particles from Microscale Viscous Flows of Colloidal Suspensions (Tentative Title)

In this document, I present my experimental discoveries on the dynamics of colloidal particles in Poiseuille flows of particle-laden suspensions in PDMS-glass microchannels under a new kind of lift force generated due to an interplay of applied electric field and shear. I exposit the colloidal particles’ detailed migration characteristics under such conditions, including estimation of migration velocity and lift force magnitudes within the channel, demonstrated for the first time, based on cutting-edge 3D confocal imaging with resonant scanning method. This work has a latent potential to control hard-to-manipulate Brownian colloidal particles across the cross-section of microchannels, with technological applications in biology and chemistry, specifically in the sample preparation and analysis stages of lab-on-a-chip platforms.

The second part of my thesis focuses on directed assembly of colloidal particles into structures with at least one dimension on the order of ~ cm both inside the microchannels and on external substrates. To this end, I have presented the dynamics of band assembly at both PDMS and glass microchannel walls from the bulk flow in my journal article published in Microfluidics and Nanofluidics, 2019. Further, in the arena of directed self-assembly, I have developed a new way to rapidly (2 orders of magnitudes faster than the state-of-the-art) assemble the colloidal particles into high aspect ratio band structures and grid structures on porous substrates, with potential applications in bulk material synthesis and photonics.

Electrochemical Biofilm Treatment

I have also undertaken several other interdisciplinary projects at the intersection of biology and engineering. For example, in my co-first authored work on the electrochemical treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) lawn biofilm (Scientific Reports (2019)), we presented a novel in vitro assay for studying effects of electroceuticals on biofilm-associated bacteria.

In another recent paper in Scientific Reports (2020), I present findings on both the ultrastructure of PA biofilms using transmission electron microscopy and the effects of electrochemical treatment on emergent, resistant variants in the PA biofilms.

These projects present the design and implementation of integrated systems possible only due to an interdisciplinary team effort.

Impedance Spectroscopy on Biological Tissues

Lastly, I have worked on the analysis of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy on ex vivo human hepatic tissue from colorectal cancer patients with liver metastasis. Specifically, I have analyzed and reported (Physiological Measurements, 2020, in press) the spatial distribution of electrical properties within the tissue and their relation with histological structure.