🎉Congratulations to #WelchGrantee@DevleenaSamanta at @UTChemistry for being selected to be one of two 2026 Cottrell Scholars! “This is an exceptional cohort of teacher‑scholars whose innovative work fuels discovery across the physical sciences,” said Eric Isaacs, president & CEO of the awarding organization, the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. Samantha is recognized for her research in building nanostructured immobilization scaffolds for biocatalysis, as well as her AI-powered undergraduate course design. https://t.co/yr0Oke6OKz
Congratulations to Devleena Samanta, a 2026 Cottrell Scholar! The recognition is a top honor for early career physical scientists with outstanding potential in research and teaching. @RCSA1@DevleenaSamanta
https://t.co/bnhNxqfV2e
Congratulations to 2026 #CottrellScholar Award recipient Devleena Samanta @DevleenaSamanta@UTChemistry@UTAustin for “Chemically Programmable Nanoscaffolds to Rewrite Biocatalysis and Adaptive Digital Resources to Deepen Quantitative Reasoning Skills in Analytical Chemistry.”
Excited to share our latest paper, published open access in @angew_chem!
We show that designer DNA sequences can be used as single-molecule switches, enabling precise control over enzyme activity in response to arbitrary, user defined chemical cues.
https://t.co/NEGgahXd3c
So excited to be featured in @VCUChemistry Alumni Q+A!
I love what I do. Becoming a professor was always my dream, and VCU played such a big role in helping me make it a reality.
Here’s the link to the interview:
https://t.co/kFE7Sr38zs
We built the 1st predictive platform for how nanoparticles program enzyme activity, combining high-throughput screening + machine learning.
Our work is now out Small, featured in the Rising Stars collection!
https://t.co/8LjEHryGBw
@SaurjaDasGupta Thanks! We are extremely excited about this direction and hope it helps to evolve our understanding of chemistry works at the nanoscale!
7/7 This opens the door to rational nanoparticle design for enzymes, useful in biocatalysis, diagnostics, biosensing, and antimicrobial therapy.
Congratulations to 1st year student Yuanjie, who led this work, and Subrata, Neha, Gabriel, and Dylan who made key contributions!
1/7: New preprint!
Our 1st run with machine learning + nanotech + biocatalysis: we designed nanoparticles that boost enzyme activity up to 19x, no protein engineering needed. A new path for biocatalysis!
🧬⚙️
📄 https://t.co/V0vwC2SFWn
#nanotech#biocatalysis#MachineLearning
6/7: To show real-world impact, we focused on antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Pairing our best nanoparticle with lactoperoxidase, we disrupted biofilms and killed multidrug-resistant bacteria in vitro. 🦠💥