Anand Subramaniam

Anand Subramaniam is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Bioengineering at the University of California, Merced. His research focuses on understanding the physicochemical mechanisms governing biomembrane assembly and function, using tools from soft matter physics, chemistry, and molecular biology. He leads the Subramaniam Lab, which develops biomimetic materials and semi-synthetic cells for applications in therapeutics and diagnostics.

Education: PhD in Applied Physics (Harvard University, 2011), S.M. in Applied Physics (Harvard University, 2011), A.B. in Biology (Harvard University, 2005, Cum Laude). Awards include the UC Merced Academic Senate Award for Distinguished Early Career Research (2018–2019) and the NSF CAREER Award (2019). He co-founded the NASA Merced Nanomaterials Center for Energy and Sensing (MACES) and is a senior investigator at the Center for Cellular & Biomolecular Machines (CCBM).

Research interests span biomimetic materials, vesicle engineering, and bottom-up synthetic biology. His lab pioneered the PAPYRUS method for high-yield giant vesicle assembly using cellulose substrates. Key projects include developing cost-effective vesicle-based therapeutics and studying lipid-glycan interactions in membrane dynamics.

Advising: Mentors over 20 graduate and undergraduate students, including PhD candidates in Bioengineering, Chemistry, and Quantitative & Systems Biology. Alumni hold roles at institutions like Harvard University, Genentech, and Beckman Coulter.

Labs/Teams: Principal Investigator at the Subramaniam Lab; affiliated with MACES, CCBM, and the UC Merced Department of Bioengineering. Collaborations span interdisciplinary groups in materials science, biophysics, and synthetic biology.