Vinni Thekkudan Novi

Graduate Fellow
Kaufert Laboratory

2004 Folwell Avenue
St. Paul, MN 55108
United States

Degree
Ph.D.
Advisor
Abdennour Abbas
Education

Biosystems Engineering, MS

Biography

Vinni Thekkudan Novi is from Chennai, a city in the southern part of India. She is currently a PhD student in the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering at University of Minnesota – Twin Cities (UMN – TC). She earned her Bachelor of Technology degree in Biotechnology from SRM University in the year 2016. During her undergraduate studies Vinni was part of research projects in the Bioprocess Laboratory, which introduced her to the world of nanotechnology and its applications. Following graduation, she joined the department of Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology – Madras (IIT-M) as a research intern. That same year she moved to the United States to pursue graduate studies at Michigan State University (MSU) in the Nano-Biosensor’s Lab. There she was involved in identifying solutions to prevent food contamination and earned her master’s degree from the department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering (BAE) in 2019. Vinni’s interest in gaining new skills in science communication paved the way to be a part of the Demmer Scholar Program at MSU, and as part of that she did an internship at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). Soon after, she joined Abdennour Abbas Research Lab in Fall 2019 at UMN – TC. She is interested in exploring the potential of nanoparticles in developing diagnostic assays that can help minimize the problems of infectious diseases. Vinni believes in the significance of communicating science to the non-technical community and would like to pursue a career as a scientist and a science communicator. After the completion of the Ph.D. degree, Vinni will seek a research and development position in the industry with potential opportunities in science communication.

Areas of Interest

Nanobiodiagnostics, Food Safety, Environmental Safety

Select Publications

  • Vandana, J., Aishvarya, K. R. S., Novi, V., Ramachandran, S., Radhakrishnan, H., & Kumar, V. V. (2017). Mesoporous titanium dioxide nanocatalyst: a recyclable approach for one-pot synthesis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural. IET Nanobiotechnology, 11(6), 690-694.
  • Thekkudan, V.N., Vaidyanathan, V.K., Ponnusamy, S.K., Charles, C., Sundar, S., Vishnu, D., Anbalagan, S., Vaithyanathan, V.K. & Subramanian, S., (2016). Review on nanoadsorbents: a solution for heavy metal removal from wastewater. IET Nanobiotechnology, 1-12.