Hitesh Handa, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
School of Chemical, Materials, and Biomedical Engineering
Advancing Medical Devices through Translational Research
Phone: 706-542-8109
Email: hhanda@uga.edu
Hitesh Handa doesn’t think a hospital stay for one problem should turn into another.
But that’s exactly what happens to tens of thousands of people every year when their central lines or catheters become infected during hospital stays.
Lucky for future hospital patients, Handa, an associate professor of engineering at the University of Georgia, is developing coatings for medical devices to keep patients from contracting potentially deadly infections.
These coatings release nitric oxide, a powerful gas found naturally in the body that keeps blood flowing and staves off infection. It can also prevent bacteria from multiplying on the devices and causing disease.
Learn more about Dr. Handa's research in this Great Commitments profile.
Education
Ph.D., Material Science and Engineering, Wayne State University, 2008
M.S., Material Science and Engineering, Wayne State University, 2007
B.S., Polymer Science and Chemical Technology, Delhi College of Engineering, India, 2002
Area of Specialty
- Translational Research
- Biomaterials for Medical Device Applications
- Nitric Oxide Releasing Materials
- Blood-Material Interactions
- Hemocompatible Materials
- Antibacterial Coatings
- Microfluidics
- Wound Healing Materials
- Tissue Engineering
- Animal Models
Recent Honors and Awards
- Inaugural University of Georgia Innovation Fellow, 2019
- University of Georgia Fred C. Davidson Early Career Scholar Award, 2019
- NIH K25 Career Development Award, 2013-2018
- University of Georgia Lilly Teaching Fellow, 2016-2018
- Young Investigator Award, Southern Translational Education and Research (STaR) Conference, 2015