Yamuna Krishnan (born 25 May 1974) is a professor at the Department of Chemistry,

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, where she has worked since August 2014. She was born to P.T. Krishnan and Mini in

Parappanangadi Parappanangadi, , is a major town and a municipality in Tirurangadi taluk of Malappuram district, Kerala, India. It is a coastal town located close to the Arabian sea. Parappanangadi railway station is one of the oldest railway stations in Ke ...

, in the

Malappuram Malappuram (also Malapuram) () is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of including the surrounding suburban areas. The first municipality in the district formed in 1970, Malappuram serves as the administrative headquarte ...

district of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

, India. She was earlier a

Reader A reader is a person who reads. It may also refer to: Computing and technology * Adobe Reader (now Adobe Acrobat), a PDF reader * Bible Reader for Palm, a discontinued PDA application * A card reader, for extracting data from various forms of ...

National Centre for Biological Sciences National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore, Karnataka, is a research centre specialising in biological research. It is a part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) under the Department of Atomic Energy of the Go ...

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is a public deemed research university located in Mumbai, India that is dedicated to basic research in mathematics and the sciences. It is a Deemed University and works under the umbrella of the ...

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. Krishnan won the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for science and technology, the highest science award in India in the year 2013 in the

Chemical Science Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, properties ...

category.

Education details

Krishnan earned her great Bachelor's in Chemistry from the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigious universities in India, incorporated by an a ...

Women's Christian College, Chennai Women's Christian College is an interdenominational women's college on College Road, Nungambakkam, in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. History The Women's Christian College was founded in 1915 with 41 students and 7 faculty members, as a result of ...

, India in 1993. She secured a Master's of Science in

s in 1997 and a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

Organic Chemistry Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain carbon atoms.Clayden, J ...

in 2002, both from the

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute was ...

, Bangalore. Krishnan worked as a

postdoctoral research fellow A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

and an 1851 Research Fellow from 2001 to 2004 at the Department of Chemistry at the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

, UK.

Professional experience

Krishnan was a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

'E' at

from 2005 to 2009, at the

TIFR Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is a public deemed research university located in Mumbai, India that is dedicated to basic research in mathematics and the sciences. It is a Deemed University and works under the umbrella of the D ...

in Bangalore, India, and then tenured

'F' from 2009 to 2013 at the National Centre for Biological Sciences,

, Bangalore, India. In 2013, she was promoted to Associate Professor 'G' at the National Centre for Biological Sciences,

, Bangalore, India and moved to

as a Professor of Chemistry in August 2014. Krishnan was a recipient of the

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of one of the predecessors of Glaxo ...

-DBT Alliance Senior Research Fellowship in 2010, the

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology. In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Acade ...

Young Scientist Medal in 2007, Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award from the Dept. of Biotechnology, Govt. of India, in 2006, and the

Infosys Prize The Infosys Prize is an annual award given to scientists, researchers, engineers and social scientists of Indian origin (not necessarily born in India) by the Infosys Science Foundation and ranks among the highest monetary awards in India to r ...

2017 in the Physical Sciences category.

Research

Krishnan's current research interests are in the areas related to structure and dynamics of

nucleic acid Nucleic acids are biopolymers, macromolecules, essential to all known forms of life. They are composed of nucleotides, which are the monomers made of three components: a 5-carbon sugar, a phosphate group and a nitrogenous base. The two main ...

s, nucleic acid nanotechnology, cellular and subcellular technologies. She also loves cats. Her lab tries to understand the functions from DNA beyond that of its traditional role as the genetic material. They develop versatile, chemical imaging technology using self-assembled DNA nanostructures to quantitatively image second messengers in real time, in living cells and genetic model organisms.

Awards

* 1851 Research Fellowship,

Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 is an institution founded in 1850 to administer the international exhibition of 1851, officially called the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations. The Great Exhibition was held ...

* Fellowship of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK * Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award, DBT *

's Young Scientist Medal * Associate,

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

*YIM-Boston Young Scientist Award 2012 * DBT - Wellcome Trust India Alliance Senior Fellowship Award *

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-la ...

, Chemical Sciences *AVRA Young Scientist Award 2014 *Cell's 40 under 40 2014 *Faculty of 1000 Prime, Chemical Biology 2014 * Chemical Sciences Emerging Investigator Award,

Royal Society of Chemistry The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a learned society (professional association) in the United Kingdom with the goal of "advancing the chemical sciences". It was formed in 1980 from the amalgamation of the Chemical Society, the Royal Inst ...

2017, Physical Sciences. *

NIH Director's Pioneer Award National Institutes of Health Director's Pioneer Award is a research initiative first announced in 2004 designed to support individual scientists' biomedical research. The focus is specifically on "pioneering" research that is highly innovative ...

2022

References

External links

Women in Chemistry — Interview with Yamuna Krishnan
* Give it all you've go

http://www.natureasia.com/en/nindia/article/10.1038/nindia.2013.6
* http://www.nature.com/nnano/reshigh/2011/0611/full/nnano.2011.91.html * https://chemistry.uchicago.edu/faculty/yamuna-krishnan-professor * http://krishnanlab.uchicago.edu/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Krishnan, Yamuna Living people Indian organic chemists Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Chemical Science 1974 births Scientists from Kerala Indian women chemists 20th-century Indian chemists Indian Institute of Science alumni 21st-century Indian chemists 21st-century Indian women scientists 20th-century Indian women scientists Women scientists from Kerala