Vignesh Sundaresan, Assistant Professor of Chemistry & Biochemistry
Dr. Vignesh Sundaresan will join the University of Mississippi Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry on July 1st. Dr. Sundaresan received his Bachelor of Technology from Central Electrochemical Research Institute in Karaikudi, India in 2014 and a Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA in 2018 under the direction of Prof. Katherine A. Willets. He then joined as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Notre Dame under the mentorship of Prof. Paul W. Bohn before joining the faculty at UM. His group will use and develop coupled electrochemical and optical techniques for studying the behavior of single entitles such as nanoparticles, molecules, and enzymes to not only answer fundamental questions but also to develop ultra-sensitive chemical and biosensors.
Imaging electrochemical reactions and biological phenomena at the nanoscale and single entity level can provide rich details on 1) heterogeneity in the system and 2) enhanced mechanistic insights that are not possible with traditional electro- and bio-analytical tools. The Sundaresan Lab vision is to use and develop high-throughput multimodal imaging techniques such as optical, electrochemical, and electron imaging to understand electrochemical and biological phenomena at the single entity level and utilize the obtained insights to design better performing catalytic and biological systems at the ensemble level. Accordingly, the group will focus on interfacing novel high-resolution optical imaging techniques, including super-resolution imaging, with electrochemical techniques that can address fundamental scientific questions in the fields of electrocatalysis, materials science, and biology. Additionally, the developed methodology can be used to design ultra-sensitive chemical and biosensors.