Rishi Harkhoe

MSCA PhD Student

Contact

✉ rishi.harkhoe@bio.ku.dk

Hi! My name is Rishi, I am a PhD student at flIMAGIN3D and here is a little about me.

After finishing my bachelor’s degree in Engineering Physics, I have gained interest in biophotonics. Therefore, I pursued a master’s degree in Biomedical Technology and Physics at the Free University of Amsterdam. During these studies, I had done internships that gave me experience in several biomedical imaging techniques including photoacoustic (PA) imaging, combined near-infrared fluorescence (NIRF) imaging and optical coherence tomography (OCT), and fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIm).

Now I will study biofilms. These are bacterial communities that are ubiquitous in aqueous environments. Biofilms are enveloped in an extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) matrix, making them resilient to environmental stresses and chemical or sanitizer treatments. Because of this, they cause problems in many industries:

  1. Up to 80% of medical bacterial infections are biofilm-related [1].

  2. Biofilms are a root cause of biofouling, causing mechanical blockages, significant losses in heat transfer, microbially influenced corrosion, et cetera [2].

  3. Biofilms are a root cause for food spoilage associated economic losses and food safety issues [3].

During my project, both fluorescence and phosphorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM and PLIM) will be used to achieve 3D mapping of oxygen and metabolic activity in biofilms. Additionally, 3D bioprinting will be used to create a more controlled experimental setup of biofilms. Lastly, a computational model will be constructed for the oxygen dynamics and distribution in biofilms as a comparison to the experimental results.

If you want to know more, you can find more information about my project here, and feel free to reach out to me.

[1]. U. Römling og C. Balsalobre, »Biofilm infections, their resilience to therapy and innovative treatment strategies,« Journal of Internal Medicine, årg. 272, nr. 6, pp. 541 - 561, 2012.

[2]. P.-Y. Qian, A. Cheng, R. Wang og R. Zhang, »Marine biofilms: diversity, interactions and biofouling,« Nature Reviews Microbiology, årg. 20, pp. 671 - 684, 2022.

[3]. S. C. Dass og R. Wang, »Biofilm through the Looking Glass: A Microbial Food Safety Perspective,« Pathogens, årg. 11, nr. 3, p. 346, 2022.