Krishnan, an engineering professor at the University of Alabama Huntsville, used his experience with a life-threatening challenge to find a better way, leading to a remarkable solution in health care.

Krishnan’s Story: Krishnan’s preemie newborn daughter had a concerning prognosis as a preemie baby.  She was suspected of having pneumonia on day one.

Given the risk, their doctor recommended a suite of antibiotics with no idea whether or not they would be effective. It was their best shot, given the situation. Krishnan recognized the challenge this posed and sought an engineering solution to reduce the time it takes to determine what organism is infecting the human body. He believed that there must be a faster way to identify the source, which would allow faster and more effective treatment—if needed.

For Krishnan, the son of a family filled with engineers, tinkerers, and novelty craftsmen, developing products that improve the quality of life of those around him was already in his DNA. He pursued an engineering degree at the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay and then took his first airplane flight to Houston for graduate studies at Rice University.  Years later, as an engineering professor at The University of Alabama in Huntsville, the lingering thought of developing a better pathogen-detection capability was finally realized and patented.

Krishnan’s interest in material science and chemical engineering comes together daily at GeneCapture as the team optimizes a sample-in answer-out solution to infection detection.  Krishnan is grateful to the intellectual generosity of scientists and founders of the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, who are committed to bringing solutions to the patient.