Engineered Nanostructures for Imaging, Sensing, Environmental Applications, and Their Implications to Human Health

The primary focus of my research will be on developing nanoscale materials for biomedical applications while also examining the implications through their interactions with biological systems. Light responsive nanomaterials offer a unique advantage in diagnostics and image-guided surgery. Therefore, one of my primary goals is to develop near infra-red light emitting nanomaterials for non-invasive sensative diagnostics tools. In my current postdoctoral research in Professor Ian Kennedy’s laboratory at University of California, Davis, I worked on developing an X-ray based optical tomography system and associated contrast agent for deep tissue imaging. I also developed a novel system for early detection of prostate cancer using lanthanides via optical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) when I was doing one year of postdoctoral research jointly in the University of Victoria, Canada and the British Columbia Cancer Agency under supervision of Professor Frank van Veggel.

My other major research goals are to predictively determine deposition, translocation of the environmental particulate matters and inhaled drugs in the respiratory track, and to develop efficient materials & techniques for hazardous waste treatment. Very recently, I have developed a magnetic field aided gas phase synthesis technique that resulted in large scale production of extremely efficient magnetic nanochains for arsenic removal from water.

Selected publication (Out of 15):

Sudheendra, L.;^* Das, G. K.;^* Li, C.; Stark, D.; Cena, J.; Cherry, S. R.; Kennedy, I. M. X-ray Luminescence from Europium-doped Lanthanide Fluoride Particles. Chemistry of Materials, 2014, 26, 1881–1888. (^*Co-First Authors)

Das, G. K.; Johnson, N. J. J.; Cramen, J.; Blasiak, B.; Latta, P.; Tomanek, B.; van Veggel F. C. J. M. NaDyF₄ Nanoparticles as T₂ Contrast Agents for Ultrahigh Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging.  The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 2012, 3, 524–529.

Das, G. K.; Zhang Y.; D’Silva, L.; Loo, J. S. C; Padmanabhan, P.; Heng, B. C.; Loo, J. S. C; Selvan S. T.; Bhakoo, K. K. and Tan T. T. Y. Single-Phase Dy₂O₃:Tb³⁺Nanocrystals as Dual-Modal Contrast Agent for High Field Magnetic Resonance and Optical Imaging. Chemistry of Materials, 2011, 23, 2439–2446.

Das, G. K.; Heng, B. C.; Ng, S.-C.; White, T.; Loo, J. S. C; D’Silva, L.; Padmanabhan, P.;  Bhakoo, K. K.; Selvan S. T. and Tan T. T. Y. Gadolinium Oxide Ultranarrow Nanorods as Multimodal Contrast Agents for Optical and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Langmuir, 2010, 26, 8959 – 8965.