News

Electrical and computer engineering assistant professor Shalini Prasad studies very small “nanomaterial” in order to impact such areas as medical diagnostics, the environment, and bio-defense applications.

In simple terms, nanotechnology involves the examination, manipulation, and production of materials or devices at the nano scale. Dr. Prasad’s research focus is on Bio-MEMS, (Bio-micro Electrical Mechanical Systems) and Nanobiotechnology.

Her research group is developing “lab-on-a-chip” based bio-sensing devices that detect proteins and other clinically relevant biomolecules. These will profile such conditions as clogged arteries, changes in oxygen and iron levels, cancer, and others. The differences will be in the amount of blood needed for the test (you guessed it, a very small amount), the time needed to conduct the test (minutes to hours, instead of hours to days), and the fact that the same sample may be used to profile several disease markers.

The work is being done in collaboration with other disciplines at PSU—chemistry and physics—as well as researchers from Oregon Health and Sciences University (OHSU), OHSU/OGI School of Science and Engineering, and Oregon State University. Along with the PSU researchers, they form the Oregon Nanomedicine Interdisciplinary Research Group (ONIRG).

Prasad came to Portland State University in 2005 after receiving her Ph.D. in electrical engineering at the University of California, Riverside, CA and her B.S. in electronics and communicaton engineering at the University of Madras, Chennai, India. She was recently published in the electronic journal, Nanotechnology (September 2006), with her article, “Micro-photonic cylindrical waveguide based protein biosensor,” (Institute of Physics Publishing, Temple Back, Bristol, UK). The article was downloaded so many times in a short period that it was made a featured article on their Web site. Portland Monthly magazine featured Dr. Prasad in the October 2006 article, “It’s a (Really) Small World.”

Dr. Prasad is assisted in the Biomedical Microdevices and Nanotechnology Laboratory by a PSU alumnus, two undergraduate, and seven graduate research assistants. One of the lab’s stated purposes is to “provide undergraduate and graduate students the education and training for performing multi-disciplinary experimental research in nano-biotechnology.” Her research was selected by Portland State University’s Lab2Market program at their Disclosure Competition in October 2005 as a “new technology that reflects the world-class research being done around the region in science and engineering with promising commercial applications.”

Nanotechnology research is not new to Portland State University. In October 2006, Portland State dedicated its ONAMI (Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnology Institute) signature research facility, the “Center for Electron Microscopy and Nanofabrication.” Across campus and across disciplines, PSU faculty are involved in nanotechnology research. The nanotechnology leadership team at Portland State is being led by Dr. John Carruthers (distinguished professor of physics at PSU and research co-director at ONAMI), Donald McClave (assistant to the president for corporate affairs and economic development at PSU and ONAMI board member), and Dan Hammerstrom (associate dean for research, PSU’s Maseeh College)." For a list of nanotechnology researchers at PSU and their areas of expertise, please see the ONAMI Web site.