Skip to Main Content

Nikhil S. Malvankar

Associate Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry
DownloadHi-Res Photo

Contact Info

Yale Microbial Sciences Institute

Malvankar lab, Advance Biosciences Center (ABC), 300 Heffernan Drive

West Haven, CT 06516

United States

About

Titles

Associate Professor of Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry

Biography

Nikhil is fascinated by how electrons move in nature-made and human-made systems. He worked on how electrons move in superconductors during his PhD at UMass, which helped him to study electrons moving in living biofilms and protein nanowires. During his postdoc, he learned structural biology and is now working on structures, functions, and electron transfer mechanisms of microbial nanowires.


Nikhil has received the Blavatnik Award for Innovation and Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award in 2021, NSF CAREER Award in 2018, NIH Director’s New Innovator Award and Hartwell Foundation Individual Biomedical Research Award in 2017, Charles H. Hood Foundation Child Health Research Award in 2016 and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Career Award at the Scientific Interface in 2014.


Appointments

Research

Overview

By combining experimental and computations, we are addressing three key questions:

  1. How do microbes build & use nanowires?
  2. How are electrons transferred from the bacterial cytoplasm to surface-displayed nanowires?
  3. Can nanowire conductivity be tuned via light, pressure, electric- & magnetic-fields to control bacteria?

Using what we learn from these studies, our long-term vision is to monitor and control the growth of microbes residing in the deep ocean, in soil, or in the human body to use nanowires in four areas:

1) Fundamental studies to elucidate how diverse microbes assemble and use various nanowires.

2) Repair soil and marine environmental health using microbial nanowire-mediated electron exchange.

3) Restore rhizosphere health by targeting nanowire-mediated microbe-plant interactions; and

4) Restore human health by controlling the growth and colonization of clinically important microbes.


Towards this vision, in the shorter term (next 3-5 years), we plan to make inroads in the:

1) In situ structural and functional imaging of metabolism within microbial communities using our electron imaging (Nature Nano.) combined with cryo-electron microscopy & tomography (with Jun Liu)

2) Understanding conductivity mechanisms employed by protein nanowires. We are determining how nanowires move electrons, ions, spins, and excitons at unprecedented ultrafast (< 200 fs) rates ( Nature Comm. 2022) and over centimeter distances. We have found a novel electron escape route in proteins to avoid oxidative damage (PNAS 2021) and how cooling speeds up electrons (Science Adv. 2022).

3) Control bacterial metabolism to develop Antibiotics: Disrupting electron export to inhibit growth and adhesion of pathogens and Probiotics: Accelerating electron export to promote growth of commensals.


Small wires, big opportunities. Protein nanowires provide unprecedented ability to control microbial function and design custom microbial communities. We are establishing a fundamentally new class of electron-conducting protein nanowires and electrogenetics, making it possible to electronically control any microbe as electronic analogs of GFP and optogenetics to monitor and control the growth, communication, and colonization of microbes deep inside the Earth and in human cells.

Projects involve structural studies, genetically engineering nanowire conductivity, nanoscale electron transfer measurements in nanowires and living biofilms, spectroelectrochemistry, and building and experimentally testing computational models through ongoing collaborations with Batista and Brudvig (Yale, Chem.), Lisa Craig (Canada), Olivera Francetic (France), and Carlos Salgueiro (Portugal).

We have several interdisciplinary projects embedded in these larger goals that would be great rotation projects. They provide training in a variety of biophysical, molecular biology, and biochemical techniques and are likely to yield positive results/publications within the rotation. Please chat to match your interests with training opportunities. Projects are experimentally or computationally-oriented, with possibilities of combining both. No prior background is necessary.

Please chat with PI or one of laboratory members to match your interests with our training opportunities. Rotation projects are experimentally or computationally-oriented with the possibility of combining both, and no prior background in a specific discipline is necessary.

Join our lab meetings in person or via Zoom on Wednesday at 11 AM (with international collaborators) and 12:30 PM (group). We can adapt our lab meeting schedule to accommodate your class schedule.


Medical Research Interests

Bacteria, Anaerobic; Bacterial Adhesion; Bacterial Infections; Biophysics; Chemistry, Physical; Electron Transport; Environmental Microbiology; Microscopy, Atomic Force; Nanotechnology

Public Health Interests

Environmental Health; Infectious Diseases; Respiratory Disease/Infections

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Nikhil S. Malvankar's published research.

Publications

2024

2023

2022

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • activity

    Department of Energy Office of Biological and Environmental Research

  • activity

    Brookhaven National Laboratory, Center for Functional Nanomaterials

  • honor

    Human Frontier Science Award

  • honor

    Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award

  • honor

    Blavatnik Award for Innovation

Get In Touch

Contacts

Academic Office Number
Secondary Academic Office Number
Office Fax Number
Mailing Address

Yale Microbial Sciences Institute

Malvankar lab, Advance Biosciences Center (ABC), 300 Heffernan Drive

West Haven, CT 06516

United States

Administrative Support

Locations

  • West Campus Office

    Academic Office

    West Campus Advanced Biosciences Center

    840 West Campus Drive, Fl 2, Rm 216

    West Haven, CT 06516

    Business Office

    203.737.7590