Dr. Carsten Ullrich is a Curators’ Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of Missouri. He obtained his PhD in theoretical physics in 1995 from the University of Würzburg, Germany, under the supervision of Professor E.K.U. Gross, and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara, with Professor Walter Kohn (winner of the 1998 Nobel Prize in Chemistry). In 2001, he joined the University of Missouri as an assistant professor; in 2007, he received tenure; and in 2013, was promoted to full professor of physics. Dr. Ullrich’s main area of research is in theoretical and computational condensed-matter physics; specifically, he is interested in describing light–matter interactions and magnetic excitations using first-principles quantum mechanical approaches. For this purpose, he develops and uses methodologies based on the density functional theory. He has authored over 120 journal publications and a textbook on time-dependent density functional theory. In 2015, he was named a fellow of the American Physical Society.
Home Institution USA: University of Missouri
Susanta Behura
Dr. Susanta Behura is an assistant professor of computational biology and bioinformatics in the Division of Animal Sciences of the University of Missouri, Columbia. He has a BSc in mathematics, an MSc in biotechnology, and a PhD in life sciences. His postdoctoral training was at Purdue University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has a decade’s experience in animal health and reproduction research at the University of Missouri. His lab leverages multi-omics data using transcriptomics, epigenetics, metabolomics, proteomics, and single-cell genomics assays to perform data-intensive bioinformatics research in the areas of reproduction, development, and health.
Dr. Behura has a demonstratable track record of conducting research independently as well as collaboratively. He has published over 100 papers in peer-reviewed journals and these have been cited extensively. His current h-index is 37 and i10-index, 82. In the last five years, his lab has published several papers in Gene, Placenta, Cells, iScience, and FASEB J which have provided new insights into the role of placenta in the development of fetal brain in animals. Dr. Behura has also been actively involved in writing collaborative and independent grant proposals. At Missouri, he has developed and taught a graduate-level course, and has also mentored three graduate students and a senior research specialist.
A reviewer for many high-impact factor journals, Dr. Behura is an editorial board member of several journals such as Scientific Reports and Systems Biology in Reproductive Medicine. He has also served as a grant reviewer and panelist for agencies like the U.S. National Science Foundation, French National Research Agency, German Research Foundation, Wellcome Trust, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Israel’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Space, and Spain’s “la Caixa” Foundation.
Dr. Behura’s Fulbright-Kalam project is a combined teaching and research endeavor at Utkal University, India. His research project, called “Advancing Genomics Research and Education on Climate-resilient Animal Agriculture in India”, is studying epigenetic changes in the blood of dairy cows to understand how they cope with summer heat. The teaching component is providing students an overview of emerging applications of genomics in climate resilience research in animal agriculture.
Sachin Handa
Dr. Sachin Handa is MizzouForward Faculty and a tenured associate professor of chemistry at the University of Missouri in Columbia. Earlier, at the University of Louisville, he had served as an assistant professor before being promoted to the position of associate professor. He earned his PhD in chemistry from Oklahoma State University and subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Dr. Handa’s research lies at the intersection of synthesis, material chemistry, energy, nanocatalysis, photochemistry, and electrocatalysis. His work is recognized for its innovative approaches to sustainable chemistry, particularly in the development of environmentally benign catalytic systems. He has authored over 85 peer-reviewed publications, including papers in high-impact journals such as Science, Nature Communications, JACS Au, ACS Catalysis, Advanced Functional Materials, and Angewandte Chemie. His notable research contributions include advancements in micelle-driven electrocatalysis, ligand design for sustainable catalysis, and nanoparticle-mediated transformations in aqueous media. Many of his research products are commercialized by Sigma-Aldrich.
His excellence in research and commitment to green chemistry have earned him numerous accolades, including the prestigious NSF CAREER Award and the ACS Peter J. Dunn Award for Green Chemistry and Engineering Impact in the Pharmaceutical Industry. He has also received the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award in Physical Sciences. He currently serves as an associate editor for ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering and holds editorial board positions with Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews and Molecules. He is also a member of the ACS Green Chemistry & Engineering Conference Advisory Committee.
Dr. Handa’s Fulbright-Nehru project is developing a sustainable electrocatalytic-electromicellar method for synthesizing fluorinated heterocycles, which are key pharmaceutical intermediates. By using electrons as clean reductants and aqueous micelles from benign designer amphiphiles as solvents and electrolytes, the research aims to minimize environmental impact and improve atom economy. The project is also exploring the delayed adoption of green chemistry in India’s pharmaceutical sector. The fellowship integrates teaching a graduate course on green chemistry and catalysis, fostering international collaboration, and promoting sustainable practices in pharmaceutical manufacturing through academic–industry partnerships and student engagement.