Professor Sohini Kar-Narayan

I have always been motivated by the strong desire to solve real-world problems using science and engineering. My late father was diabetic and suffered from heart disease, and this played a role in my desire to improve patient care by developing new materials and technologies for personalised healthcare and remote health monitoring. I continue to be motivated by the huge role scientific research can play in improving clinical outcomes and quality-of-life, and reducing the burden on healthcare systems. I greatly enjoy working closely with clinicians and surgeons to offer sensor-based solutions that can significantly improve patient outcomes.

It has been an absolute privilege to be able to train and nurture the next generation of scientists and engineers, and to have the opportunity to work with some truly brilliant colleagues and collaborators over the years. My greatest triumphs have arisen not just from the research I do, but from the individuals that I have had the good fortune of working with.

From being the only woman in my PhD cohort at the Indian Institute of Science, to raising two young children while navigating the challenges of academia, I have overcome many societal and institutional challenges to get to where I am today. I am very proud to be leading a diverse and interdisciplinary research team, and I hope that the next generation will naturally embrace the concept of a diverse and inclusive workforce, and value its importance.

The chemical sciences are playing a huge role in tackling some of the biggest challenges faced by the world today: climate change, the energy crisis, food production, disease management, and caring for an ageing population, to name a few. The interaction between the chemical sciences and other fields is driving interdisciplinary innovations with the impact already being felt across various industries, such as pharmaceuticals, renewables and manufacturing.