Biswal honored as ‘young investigator’
 Lisa Biswal, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has received a 2007 Young Investigator Award from the Office of Naval Research, given to academic researchers early in their careers.
The honor, one of 24 presented nationwide in 2007, carries a three-year, $300,000 award. Her proposal’s title was "Building Responsive and Structured Assemblies with Magnetic Colloids."
Magnetic colloids are small spherical particles measuring about 800 nanometers, and contain tiny grains of iron oxide. When subjected to a magnetic field, colloids organize themselves in linear chains. Biswal is researching methods for linking the colloids using proteins, DNA, or other substances, so they remain in a chain even when a magnetic field is removed.
"The idea is to create flexible structures that can bend but stay together, which could have many applications. It could be used to mix chemicals in a `lab on a chip.' It might be useful in separating the different parts of blood," Biswal said.
Coatings or new materials made of magnetic colloids, she said, might also be used to manufacture "smart clothing," resistant to projectiles and other objects.
Biswal came to Rice in summer 2006. She received a B.S. from the California Institute of Technology, and an M.S. and Ph.D. from Stanford University, and was a postdoctoral associate (2004-06) at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research focuses on understanding and designing interactions among nanoparticles, biomolecules and surfaces.
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