Our Students

Project: Plasma inactivate bacteria on the surface of fresh produce

Vikas is a highly motivated Ph.D. candidate transitioning to be a post-doc in Plasma Medicine at GWU under Dr. Michael Keidar. He specializes in applications of plasma medicine in the treatment of cancer, bacteria, and viruses. With a master’s from Georgetown, he excelled in cancer research at NCI, NIH, winning honors, the Excellence in Science Award, and a gold medal awarded by Lieutenant General Jeffrey Talley and the dean of the Biotechnology program at Georgetown University. Vikas worked at the NCI where he focused on understanding molecular mechanisms of cancer during his contract at the NIH. At GWU, he works on plasma applications, including non-invasive brain cancer treatment using Cold Atmospheric Plasma (CAP). As a part of the NSF-GWU consortium and initiative he also worked at the FDA on the treatment of bacteria and decontamination. His FDA Risk-Calculator PPE project on the treatment of viruses and antibiotic-resistant bacteria Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and E. coli using different plasma sources showcases his contributions to advanced decontamination technologies. During the pandemic, he collaborated and worked with the FDA-GWU and Princeton Plasma Physics Labs (PPPL) to treat the flu and SARS-CoV-2 viruses using various plasma devices including CAP jet and Di-electric Barrier Discharge (DBDs). He also presented and gave talks at the NSF IUCRC meetings on decontamination and treatment of H1N1 and SARS-CoV-2 using a cold atmospheric plasma jet and the flex and weave DBDs and non-invasive treatment of brain cancer using CAP and PDT. Vikas, recognized with awards, plans to pursue a postdoctoral research fellowship under Dr. Michael Keidar and continue working on applications of plasmas in medicine and healthcare. He will soon compete in the NSF national I-Corps program to achieve funding for the lab. His research aims to revolutionize medical practices by utilizing plasma technology for cancer, viruses, bacterial infection, and wound healing treatment. Vikas has numerous publications, citations, and patents, recently earning accolades at the GWU and receiving high appreciation, positioning him for future entrepreneurial endeavors.

Project: Regeneration of Granular Activated Carbon

Environmental Engineering student with a curiosity that pushes him to learn as much as possible in order to satisfy the desire of using that knowledge to contribute to those around him. Other hobbies include language learning and culture, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, alternative education, and sustainability.

Project: Adaptive plasmas for medicine

Li Lin is a postdoctoral researcher since Jan. 2020. Li’s research interests include plasma physics and chemistry especially the diagnostics, performance, and adaptive control of the cold atmospheric plasma (CAP). CAP is a novel biomedical method such as leading cancer cell apoptosis as a cancer therapy. Li analyzed the behavior of CAP jets under various environments, using Intensified Charge-Coupled Device (ICCD), Rayleigh Microwave Scattering (RMS), UV-VIS spectroscopy, and his original diagnostic method of electron temperature and electron energy probability function. Li also contributed to the plasma-wall interactions including the behaviors of ionization waves on a variety of boundary conditions. These latest discoveries including the combination with machine learning can optimize the selectivity of CAP treatments. Li also improved the plasma jet generator and provides hardware support for other biomedical research team members in MpNL. Currently, Li is an editorial board member of Scientific Reports, a topics board editor of MDPI Catalysts, and a reviewer board member of MDPI Symmetry.