There was a chapter in standard III about Marie Curie. That was the first time I realised that someone can grow up to become a scientist. And that is what inspired me to be where I am today,” reminisces Krishna Agarwal.
A B-Tech graduate in electronic engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Dhanbad formerly known as the Indian School of Mines (ISM) Dhanbad, Agarwal (37) has come a long way at a young age.
Upon completing her graduation from IIT Dhanbad in 2003, Krishna joined the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) as a scientist. After a three year stint with DRDO, she joined the National University of Singapore (NUS) where she pursued her doctoral studies. She completed her PhD in electromagnetic inverse scattering i.e. use of microwave signals for penetrating biological tissue or seeing through the walls. Following that she did her post docs from NUS and Singapore MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART, the only MIT lab outside Boston, USA). She was awarded the prestigious President Fellowship of Singapore and the Young Scientist Award from the International Union of Radio Science (URSI).
Recipient of the Marie Curie Individual Fellowship from the European Union (EU) with a fellowship fund of €241000, Agrwal is now based in Norway. At UiT- The Arctic University of Noway, she if furthering her work on developing new nanoscopy technology for biomedical research, Krishna has graduated to the role of an Associate Professor and is cureently building her team of PhD students and post docs. She has also received the European Research Council starting grant (ERC- the most prestigous research funding of EU) from the Union amounting to € 1.5 million. UiT has extended further support of €0.5 million for boosting the research activiy.
A researcher on electromagnetics and optics, her role is to propose new technology solutions that are founded in physics and mathematics and simultaneously play an important part in determining how much can be known about the human body and how better treatment solutions can be designed for treating diseases such as cancer.
According to Agarwal, to study the interior conditions of cancer cells versus normal cells, presently the proteins inside the cells are artificially colored using fluorescent molecules of different colors and extremely high quality microscopes are used which makes the sub cellular structure size as small as 200 nm visible. Though the technique is great, it has two drawbacks. Trying to obtain a resolution smaller than 200 nm destroys the cells and coloring the proteins using fluorescent labels hampers their normal functioning. “My Marie Curie project is about achieving 50 nm resolution using fluorescent coloring but while being able to keep the cells alive. My ERC project is about reaching the currently unprecedented goal of 50 nm resolution without using fluorescent proteins. This is an immense challenge and I am glad that EU considered me capable of solving such a challenging problem,” she added.
Through these technologies the medical biologists will be able to observe the functioning of living cells like live telecast of events. Biologists can also design more effective and targeted treatment for not only cancer but a gamut of other conditions such as cardiac health, diabetes rate of aging, women’s health, liver functioning etc.
Sharing her experience at UiT- The Arctic University of Norway located in Tromsø, Krishna believes that people don’t choose Tromsø, rather Tromsø chooses its people. Her life at Tromsø is very thrilling and exciting with the Aurora (northern lights), midnight sun and skiing in winters. “UiT is providing a very constructive and supportive environment to nurture young leaders and their ambitions.
It has a constant flow of internationally placed scientists and is a great place to pursue research,” she said.
Coming from a middle class family, Krishna was brought up across Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka, She got married right after her graduation but that did not deter her from achieving her dreams. Instead it was her husband and in-laws who motivated her to continue with her education.
“I and my husband are a very good team. Since he is also a scientist, we understand the highs and lows of our chosen profession and research. This helps us in motivating and supporting each other in an effective manner,” emphasizes Agarwal. Married to Dr. Dilip K. Prasad, a PhD in the field of artificial intelligence and computer vision from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Agarwal feels that her husband is her biggest supporter. He will be joining her at UiT in 2019 as an associate professor in the department of computer science.
