CORE FACULTY

Education
• Ph.D. Physics, 2005, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
• BTech. (Aero), 1999, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, India.

Experience
• Professor, IISc, Bangalore, August 2020 – Current.
• Associate Professor, IISc, Bangalore, 2014-2020.
• Asst. Professor, IISc, Bangalore, Aug 2008-2014.
• Director of Engineering, Quadraspec Inc., Purdue Research Foundation, USA, 2005 – 2007.
• Consultant, Quadraspec Inc., Purdue Research Foundation, USA, 2004 – 2005.

Research Interests
Solid-state nanopores, nanopore based single molecule DNA and protein sequencing, single molecule sensing using nanopores

Recent Publications

• Pal, A., Roshini, R. A., & Varma, M. M. (2024). De-wetted gold nanostructures for SERS-based sensing of static and dynamic targets. Applied Surface Science, 678, 161096.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2024.161096

• Varma, M. M., & Badrinath, S. S. (2024). Performance of Aptamer-Based Sensing with Detection of Thrombin as a Representative Example. BioNanoScience, 1-13.
  https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12668-023-01292-x

• Sajeer Paramabth, M., & Varma, M. (2023). Demystifying PCR tests, challenges, alternatives, and future: A quick review focusing on COVID and fungal infections. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 51(6), 719-728.
  https://doi.org/10.1002/bmb.21771

• Dominic, A., Sajeer Parambath, M., Nasa, S., & Varma, M. (2023). Practical guide for in-house solid-state nanopore fabrication and characterization. Journal of Vacuum Science & Technology B, 41(4).
  https://doi.org/10.1116/6.0002682

• Nukala, P., & Varma, M. M. (2022). TEM based applications in solid state nanopores: From fabrication to liquid in-situ bio-imaging. Micron, 162, 103347.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.micron.2022.103347

Key Publications

• Pal, S., Naik, A., Rao, A., Chakraborty, B., & Varma, M. M. (2022). Aptamer-DNA origami-functionalized solid-state nanopores for single-molecule sensing of G-quadruplex formation. ACS Applied Nano Materials, 5(7), 8804-8810.
  https://doi.org/10.1021/acsanm.2c00787

• Balasubramanian, R., Pal, S., Rao, A., Naik, A., Chakraborty, B., Maiti, P. K., & Varma, M. M. (2020). DNA translocation through vertically stacked 2D layers of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride heterostructure nanopore. ACS Applied Bio Materials, 4(1), 451-461.
  https://doi.org/10.1021/acsabm.0c00929

• Pal, S., Ramkumar, B., Jugade, S., Rao, A., Naik, A., Chakraborty, B., & Varma, M. M. (2020). Effect of single nanoparticle-nanopore interaction strength on ionic current modulation. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical, 325, 128785.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.snb.2020.128785

Patents
Issued Patents:
• David D. Nolte, Manoj Varma, Fred E. Regnier, Leilei Peng, Multiplexed biological analyzer planar array apparatus and methods , U.S. Pat. No. 7,910,356 (2011).

• X. Wang, D. D. Nolte, M. Varma, B. Weichel, T. Norwood, F. Sayegh, M. Zhao, System with extended range of molecular sensing through integrated multi-modal data acquisition, U.S. Pat. No. 7,659,968 (2010).

• David D. Nolte, Manoj Varma, Fred E. Regnier, Laser scanning interferometric surface metrology , U.S. Pat. No. 7,405,831 (2008).

• David D. Nolte, Fred E. Regnier, Manoj Varma, Bio-Optical Compact-Disk System , U.S. Pat. No. 6,685,885 (2004).

Filed Patents:
• David D. Nolte, Manoj Varma, Fred E. Regnier, Leilei Peng, Ming Zhao, Differentially encoded biological analyzer planar array apparatus and methods , Pub. App. No. 20070023643, (2007).

• David D. Nolte, Manoj Varma, Ming Zhao, In-line quadrature and anti-reflection enhanced phase quadrature interferometric detection , Pub. App. No. 20070212257, (2007).