Hitesh Handa, Ph.D.
Hitesh Handa, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

I-STEM 2
Room 2214

706-542-0145

handalab.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

Honors / Awards / Achievements

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

Educational Activities

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