Professor of Agricultural and Biological Engineering; Deputy Director Bindly Bioscience Center

Contact Information:

E-mail: josephi@purdue.edu
Phone: 765-496-3289
Group Page

Education:

B.S. Biosystems Engineering (India); M.S. Biosystems Engineering (University of Hawaii); M.S. Computer Sciences (University of Hawaii); Ph.D. Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, 1991.

Research Interests:

We develop nanotools and single molecule methods to understand intracellular biological mechanisms and interactions in realtime in single living cells using single molecule fluorescence methods, plasmonic sensing, and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. We achieve this by integrating optics and instrumentation, nanomaterials with multifunctional properties, and single molecule and super-resolution fluorescence microscopy.

Research Impact Statement:

We develop single molecule spectroscopic methods for detecting and mapping protein interactions in the cytoplasmic and nuclear compartments. We use these tools to understand the inheritance of epigenetic modifications, one of the fundamental mechanisms essential for understanding human diseases. The plasmonic platforms developed using gold nanostructures are used for quantifying mRNA in single cells as well as other desired genetic material at atto Molar sensitivity. We create dynamic single cell chemical imaging tools enabled by Raman spectroscopy to study phosphorylation and redox sites in single cells. These efforts will be useful in drug screening. The overall tools developed in our group has the capacity to impact both the basic and applied sectors of the community.