Headshot of Nikhil Malvankar

Nikhil Malvankar

Associate Professor; Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry
Research Interests: Single-Cell Imaging & Control of Microbial Metabolism via Protein Nanowires: Combining experiments with theoretical and computational modeling to address how environmentally and clinically important microbes build & use hair-like “nanowires” to export electrons outside their cell body, during respiration, communication, and pathogenesis by tuning nanowire conductivity using light, pressure, temperature, electromagnetic fields, humidity, non-natural ‘click’ chemistry and quantum coherence

Research Area(s)

Bioengineering 

Bioinformatics

Biological circuits

Imaging biological systems

Systems biology

Properties, structure, and composition of biological systems

Malvankar Lab

Single-Cell Imaging & Control of Microbial Metabolism via Protein Nanowires: By combining experiments with theoretical and computational modeling, we are addressing how environmentally and clinically important microbes build & use hair-like “nanowires” to export electrons outside their cell body, during respiration, communication, and pathogenesis by tuning nanowire conductivity using light, pressure, temperature, electromagnetic fields, humidity, non-natural ‘click’ chemistry and quantum coherence.

PEB Students

  • Dr. Peter Dahl

    Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry (Malvankar lab)
    Thesis title: “Toward Understanding the Mechanism of Charge Transport in Protein Nanowires”

  • Dr. J. Patrick O'Brien

    Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry (Malvankar lab)
    Thesis Title: “A Tale of Two Nanowires: The Biochemical and Spectroscopic Characterization of the Conductive Cytochrome OmcS and OmcZ Filaments of Geobacter Sulfurreducens”

  • Dr. Catharine Shipps

    Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry (Malvankar lab)
    Thesis title: “Electrons on the Move in Proteins: Microbial Cytochrome Nanowires in Extracellular Electron Transfer and as Functional Materials”