THE MELODIES OF MATERIALS
Materials science is at the heart of innovation, shaping the tools and technologies of our modern world. Let's dive into the intricacies behind the materials that define the music and sounds of our lives.
6/12/2025 ⋅ By Rishi Pai ⋅ 6 min read
My Insightful Conversation with Lohitash Karumbaiah, Ph.D. at the University of Georgia
Dr. Lohitash Karumbaiah, UGA Today
I recently got the opportunity to have a conversation with Lohitash Karumbaiah, an Associate Professor and director of the Translational Glycomaterials and Neural Repair Laboratory at the University of Georgia. We discussed his lab’s research, which plays a heavy emphasis on biomaterials and bioanalytics. I was intrigued by the Karumbaiah Lab’s astounding innovations in materials science and medicine, and this conversation opened the doors for me to further explore my interest in this field of engineering.
The Regenerative Bioscience Center is a major facility at the University of Georgia in Athens, GA. Regenerative bioscience itself, is an intense field that explores ways to develop alternatives or repairs of human and animal cells, tissues, organs, etc. The techniques used in this field include stem cell therapy, tissue engineering, and gene therapy. Dr. Karumbaiah’s lab is a core research group focusing on tissue engineering for regenerative bioscience, the perfect blend with biology and materials science. During the conversation, I learnt that his lab studies translational glycomaterials. Simply, they research the interface of biology and engineering, to develop engineering approaches to combat traumas to the human nervous system.
Our conversation gave me a much deeper understanding of his research than what I was able to understand from just the lab page. With the advanced medical and engineering jargon throughout Dr. Karumbaiah’s vast publications, he was able to explain his research understandably during our conversation. The largest part of the lab is a development of something called “Brain Glue”. Essentially, according to Karumbaiah, the lab aims to create materials for regeneration of neural tissue following traumatic brain injuries, like dementias or brain tumors.
It was fascinating to see a video recap following Karumbaiah’s explanation of the brain glue discovery. They were able to test their prototype of “Brain Glue” on a rat’s brain, developing a 3D model of the depiction, with promising results. They saw that their brain glue promoted both protection of the neurons but also repair following the traumatic injury. This success is a promising reflection of the impacts that “Brain Glue” could have on humans that suffer from TBI (Traumatic Brain Injuries).
I was able to learn about his multi-faceted research as Karumbaiah expanded from their main focus in their lab. Not only do they focus on neural repair materials, but they research robotics as well. This was especially intriguing to me because of my background in FIRST robotics, and I was excited to learn more about his research and projects in that aspect. Karumbaiah explained to me a completed project of theirs, which was constructing a machine that would make analysis in their lab autonomous and more efficient. More specifically, they created an autonomous platform to assess forelimb motor function and cognition in rodents (reach-to-grasp phenomenon). The lab was able to create a low-cost reach-to-grasp platform that expanded on several technological and knowledge gaps.
My conversation with Dr. Karumbaiah at UGA was intriguing to say the least, and it boosted my understanding and desire to learn more about materials science and engineering. Since his lab is primarily biomaterials based, I am excited to apply his insights into the work that I am doing currently at Georgia State University as an intern at the Jin lab, under the provision of Dr. Zhicheng Jin. In my lab, we focus on drug delivery materials, with an emphasis on chemistry. I am excited to further explore this intersection between biology and materials science engineering.
This opportunity to speak with Dr. Karumbaiah was extremely valuable, and I am grateful to him for taking the time to share his insights with me. This conversation has invited me to seek more opportunities in the field of materials science, and I cannot wait to dive in and share more about my research and future innovations. That’s it for now, so until dhin . . . stay upbeat and stay tuned.