Kishan Dholakia

Professor Kishan Dholakia is a distinguished academic at the University of St Andrews, holding positions at the School of Physics and Astronomy, Sir James Mackenzie Institute for Early Diagnosis, Centre for Biophotonics, Institute of Behavioural and Neural Sciences, and Biomedical Sciences Research Complex. With a career spanning decades, he has established himself as a leading researcher in optical physics and biophotonics.

His research interests focus on the application of shaped laser beams to trap, analyze and manipulate colloidal particles, cells and tissue. His work encompasses optical tweezers and particle rotation with applications in biophotonics, studies of novel light beams (including Bessel beams, Airy beams, Laguerre-Gaussian beams), shaping light through disordered materials, advanced imaging, Raman analysis, and cell nanosurgery. His research has significant industrial relevance in single and multi-beam optical traps, drug delivery, gene therapy, cancer research, and Raman analysis.

Professor Dholakia's recent publications demonstrate a consistent focus on advancing optical manipulation techniques, precision measurement, and imaging technologies. His work increasingly integrates machine learning with traditional optical methods, as seen in applications ranging from whisky identification to embryo development analysis. The research spans fundamental physics of light-matter interaction to practical biomedical applications.

• 2017 Thomas Young Medal and Prize
• 2018 SPIE Dennis Gabor Award
• Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2007)
• Fellow of the Optical Society of America
• Fellow of SPIE
• EPSRC Public Understanding of Science Award (2004)
• Photonics Club of Excellence Prize USA (2005)

Professor Dholakia is deeply committed to teaching and science communication, having instigated and delivered two lecture courses at St Andrews: "Biophotonics" and "Applications of Quantum Physics." He has also designed optical trapping systems for undergraduate and Masters course laboratories. His research is supported by numerous projects including European Commission grants (PROSCOPE, DynAMic) and EPSRC funding (TRAFIX, Prosperity Partnership).

He leads research within the Centre for Biophotonics at St Andrews, where his group develops cutting-edge optical manipulation and imaging technologies, with strong connections to biomedical applications and commercial translation through various partnerships.