Govind Kaigala

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Research Staff Member
IBM Research Laboratory - Zurich, Rueschlikon, Switzerland
+41 dash

724

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microfluidics ♦ lab-on-a-chip ♦ scanning probes ♦ biological interfaces ♦ molecular diagnostics ♦ personalized medicine

For further details, see link: Open space microfluidics

MFP Current activities

Govind Kaigala is currently a Research Staff Member in the Science & Technology department of IBM Research–Zurich.

His research is aligned within the Precision Diagnostics project aimed at developing enabling technologies for healthcare and life sciences area while generating high-value data. He leads activities on a liquid scanning probe technology — Microfluidic probe (MFP) — and is championing new concepts and thinking on:
♦ “open” space microfluidics
♦ tumor analysis.

His work has led to new ways to interact with tissue & cellular constructs, and this has resulted in a distinct class of molecular methods
♦ micro-immunohistochemistry (μIHC)
♦ micro-fluorescent in situ hybridization (μFISH)
♦ spatialyse.

These molecular methods leverage the unique physics of fluidics and chemistry at the micrometer length scales. Such compartmentalization, spatio-temporal analysis, and electrokinetic concentration/separation methodologies are now being applied to alter microenvironments (and creating unique niches), advanced biopatterning and quantifying tumor heterogeneity.

Much of the current focus is now on developing methods for precise tumor analysis methods wherein the scanning probe technologies, microscale molecular assays along with data integration techniques are leading to new workflows that have the potential to have implications in diagnosis, prognosis and prediction.

Research interests

He applies and leverages micro/nano-technologies for chemical & biomolecule analysis to realize new analytical tools and assays. These topics encompass certain aspects of nano-biotechnology.

His interests in microfluidic approaches include:
♦ hydrodynamics
♦ eletrokinetics
♦ compartmentalization.

Govind is passionate about personalized medicine, quantitative biology and translational clinical/medical research.

Selected metrics

He has authored and co-authored 65 peer-reviewed journal publications, 4 book chapters, 1 book, 90 conference proceedings and abstracts and 44 families of patents.

Govind Kaigala is the recipient of several IBM awards, including Research Division Accomplishment Awards (2014, 2017 & 2019) and named "Master Inventor" in 2019. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2020. He has also received the Horizon Alumni Award from the University of Alberta, Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada's (NSERC) PGS & PDF. He is a J.N. Tata Endowment Fellow and a Senior Member of IEEE. In addition to IBM and other industrial engagements, Govind’s work is supported by the European Research Council (ERC), the European Union, and SystemsX.ch Swiss National Science Foundation.

Prior to joining IBM

Govind Kaigala was a postdoctoral fellow at the Microfluidics Laboratory in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, and at the Stanford Medical School, USA. He received both his Ph.D. and M.Eng. degrees from the University of Alberta, Canada, for work done in the Depts. of Electrical Engineering and Experimental Oncology (Cross Cancer Institute). Prior to his doctoral studies, he was a hardware design engineer working on the design of fault-tolerant optical communication networks.

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