Madhavi Krishnan
# Madhavi Krishnan

Madhavi Krishnan is a British chemist who is an Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Oxford. Krishnan invented an electrostatic fluidic trap which permits the spatial control and manipulation of nanoscale materials. These traps can permit the sensitive detection of biomarkers of disease, allowing for early diagnosis.

## Early life and education

Krishnan earned her undergraduate degree at Anna University in Chennai. She moved to the United States for her graduate studies, where she joined the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor to work on genetic testing. Krishnan was an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Fellow at TU Dresden, where she developed new techniques to trap colloidal nanoparticles and stretch DNA. In 2008 she was awarded a Marie Curie Fellowship and moved to ETH Zurich. She was a visiting scholar at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

## Research and career

In 2012 Krishnan was appointed an Assistant Professor of Physical Chemistry at ETH Zurich, where she was eventually made a Swiss National Science Foundation Chair. She moved to the University of Oxford in 2018, where she was made an Associate Professor of Physical Chemistry.

Krishnan investigates single-molecule imaging, making use of electrostatic fluid traps to suspend nanoscale materials. Traditionally, molecular traps need external fields (for example, ion traps and optical tweezers), which can perturb the systems that are under investigation. Investigating molecules in a field-free, electrostatic trap permits the non-destructive analysis of molecules in fluids at room temperature. Studying molecules in this way allows for unparalleled opportunity to understand molecular size and charge.

## Awards and honours

* 2016 German Bunsen Society for Physical Chemistry Nernst-Haber-Bodensteinpreis
* 2018 European Research Council Consolidator Grant
* 2020 Corday–Morgan Prize

## Selected publications

* Burns, Mark A.; Johnson, Brian N.; Brahmasandra, Sundaresh N.; Handique, Kalyan; Webster, James R.; Krishnan, Madhavi; Sammarco, Timothy S.; Man, Piu M.; Jones, Darren; Heldsinger, Dylan; Mastrangelo, Carlos H. (16 October 1998). "An Integrated Nanoliter DNA Analysis Device". Science. 282 (5388): 484–487. Bibcode:1998Sci...282..484B. doi:10.1126/science.282.5388.484. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 9774277.
* Krishnan, Madhavi; Ugaz, Victor M.; Burns, Mark A. (25 October 2002). "PCR in a Rayleigh-Bénard Convection Cell". Science. 298 (5594): 793. doi:10.1126/science.298.5594.793. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 12399582.
* Krishnan, Madhavi; Mojarad, Nassiredin; Kukura, Philipp; Sandoghdar, Vahid (6 October 2010). "Geometry-induced electrostatic trapping of nanometric objects in a fluid". Nature. 467 (7316): 692–695. Bibcode:2010Natur.467..692K. doi:10.1038/nature09404. ISSN 0028-0836. PMID 20930840. S2CID 205222381.
