Title: "From Ion Transport to Measurement Platforms"

Robbyn Anand, Associate Professor

Dept of Chemistry, Iowa State University

Host: Theresa Windus

Abstract: Measurement science and chemical separations are central to technologies ranging from clinical diagnostics and environmental monitoring to water purification and resource recovery. Across these diverse applications, analytical systems must contend with complex samples, heterogeneous populations, and chemical environments that vary across space and time. My group uses electric fields to address these challenges by controlling the movement of ions, molecules, and cells for selective enrichment and separation, while coupling these processes with co-localized analysis.

In this presentation, I will describe our development of new electroanalytical and electrokinetic separation methods for single-cell analysis, chemical sensing, microscale separations, and water purification. Central to this work is understanding how electric fields, interfacial chemistry, and electrode reactions govern ion and molecular transport in confined and porous environments. These studies have led to parallel isolation and analysis of individual cells, enrichment and label-free detection of chemical and biological targets, control of chemical composition within microscopic droplets, and electrokinetic separations at increasingly large scales.

Bio: Dr. Robbyn K. Anand is the Suresh Faculty Fellow and Carlyle G. Caldwell Endowed Chair in the Department of Chemistry at Iowa State University, where she has been a faculty member since 2015. She earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry from The University of Texas at Austin under the mentorship of Prof. Richard Crooks and subsequently completed an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Washington with Prof. Daniel Chiu. 

Dr. Anand's research lies at the intersection of analytical chemistry, electrochemistry, and microfluidics. Her group develops innovative technologies for single-cell analysis, cancer diagnostics, water purification, and chemical sensing, with the goal of making advanced diagnostic and environmental monitoring tools more accessible. Her work has led to significant advances in electrokinetic manipulation, circulating tumor cell analysis, and microfluidic separations.

Her accomplishments have been recognized with numerous honors, including the NSF CAREER Award, NIH Trailblazer Award, Cottrell Scholar Award, 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award, Royce W. Murray Young Investigator Award, Pittsburgh Conference Achievement Award, and Analytical Chemistry Young Innovator Award. In addition to her research achievements, she is the founder of the Midwest Women Chemists Retreat, which supports the advancement and retention of women in the chemical sciences.