Dr Ravinash Krishna Kumar
MSci, PhD
Lecturer in Medical Technology
EDI Steering Group
Visiting Academic at the University of Oxford
E402, Engineering, Mile End
| Feedback/ support hours: |
Monday 2-4 pm |
| Expertise: | Our group uses 3D printing and fluidic technologies to 1) build new microbiome models for understanding host-microbial community relationship, 2) build synthetic tissues for controlling living tissues, and 3) build new engineered living materials. Our group is highly interdisciplinary and spans 3D printing, method development, materials science, microbiology/cell biology, ecology, and modelling. |
| Research Centre: |
Brief Biography
I am a lecturer in Medical Technology in the School of Engineering and Materials Science (SEMS) at Queen Mary University of London. I am also a member of the EDI Steering Committee at SEMS, and a Visiting Academic at the University of Oxford.
For my MSci in Chemistry at the University of Bristol (2005-2009), I spent one year in industry at DuPont (USA) working on 2nd generation biofuels. I then pursued a PhD at the University of Bristol and worked with Professor Stephen Mann (2009-2014), where I designed and built artificial cells for understanding the role of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton. I then moved to the University of Oxford for postdoctoral work on lipid bilayer biophysics and TIRF microscopy with Professor Mark Wallace (2014-2015).
Towards the end of my first postdoc, I became fascinated with microbial communities and sought to train in microbiology and microbial ecology. This is when I began my work on 3D printing methods for microbiology and synthetic biology projects with Professor Hagan Bayley and Professor Kevin Foster at the University of Oxford: between 2016 and 2022, I developed new 3D printing approaches to 1) generate patterned bacterial communities to understand structure/function relationships, and 2) construct micron-sized patterned compartments to control cellular behaviour.
I also took parental leave for 6 months before joining QMUL in September 2022 and starting a research group.
For my MSci in Chemistry at the University of Bristol (2005-2009), I spent one year in industry at DuPont (USA) working on 2nd generation biofuels. I then pursued a PhD at the University of Bristol and worked with Professor Stephen Mann (2009-2014), where I designed and built artificial cells for understanding the role of the eukaryotic cytoskeleton. I then moved to the University of Oxford for postdoctoral work on lipid bilayer biophysics and TIRF microscopy with Professor Mark Wallace (2014-2015).
Towards the end of my first postdoc, I became fascinated with microbial communities and sought to train in microbiology and microbial ecology. This is when I began my work on 3D printing methods for microbiology and synthetic biology projects with Professor Hagan Bayley and Professor Kevin Foster at the University of Oxford: between 2016 and 2022, I developed new 3D printing approaches to 1) generate patterned bacterial communities to understand structure/function relationships, and 2) construct micron-sized patterned compartments to control cellular behaviour.
I also took parental leave for 6 months before joining QMUL in September 2022 and starting a research group.