Karunakaran, Esther, Dr

Dr Esther Karunakaran

School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering

Senior Lecturer

Admissions Director for Biomedical Engineering

Engineering Scientific Lead for Spironix

Director for SCARAB

e.karunakaran@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 7166

Room G16, Sir Robert Hadfield Building

Full contact details

Dr Esther Karunakaran
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Room G16
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
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S1 3JD

Profile: My undergraduate degree is in microbiology from Bharathiar University in South India. I sought to apply my skills and knowledge in microbiology to overcome societal challenges and so I moved towards the applied sciences through a postgraduate degree in molecular genetics from the University of Leicester and a PhD in biochemical engineering from the University of ��«Ӱҵ.

Research interests

I study community lifestyle in microorganisms called biofilms. Whilst the biofilm lifestyle offers microorganisms resilience against environmental changes, their societal impact can be unfavourable or favourable. For instance, tolerance of biofilms to antibiotics can result in life-threatening infections whilst their tolerance to chemicals can be harnessed to improve product titres during whole cell biocatalysis. My research interests are in finding ways to control biofilms to minimise their detrimental impact and maximise their benefits. My research integrates multidisciplinary methods, including molecular microbiology, proteomics and colloidal characterisation techniques.

Key research interests:

Biofilms
Molecular microbiology
Antimicrobial resistance
Industrial biotechnology
Bioprocess engineering
Environmental microbiology

Publications

Journal articles

Okurowska K, MacNeil S, Roy S, Garg P, Monk PN & Karunakaran E (2024) . Journal of Medical Microbiology, 73(12).
Devanga Ragupathi NK, Muthuirulandi Sethuvel DP, Ganesan A, Murugan D, Baskaran A, Wannigama DL, Monk PN, Karunakaran E & Veeraraghavan B (2024) . Scientific Reports, 14(1).
Okurowska K, Monk PN & Karunakaran E (2024) . Microbiology, 170(5), 001459.
Cai Z, Karunakaran E & Pandhal J (2024) . Front Microbiol, 15.
Karunakaran E, Battarbee R, Tait S, Beltran BM, Berney C, Grinham J, Herrero MA, Omolo R & Douterelo I (2024) . Science of The Total Environment, 912.
Ragupathi NKD, Muthuirulandi Sethuvel DP, Gopikrishnan M, Dwarakanathan HT, Murugan D, Biswas I, Bakthavachalam YD, Murugesan M, George Priya Doss C, Monk PN , Karunakaran E et al (2023) . Microbial Pathogenesis, 106064-106064.
Regan HC, Taylor AF & Karunakaran E (2022) . Journal of Visualized Experiments(187).
Devanga Ragupathi NK, Veeraraghavan B, Karunakaran E & Monk PN (2022) . Frontiers in Medicine, 9.
Santos M, Pereira SB, Flores C, Príncipe C, Couto N, Karunakaran E, Cravo SM, Oliveira P & Tamagnini P (2021) . mSphere, 6(1).
Devanga Ragupathi NK, Muthuirulandi Sethuvel DP, Triplicane Dwarakanathan H, Murugan D, Umashankar Y, Monk PN, Karunakaran E & Veeraraghavan B (2020) . Frontiers in Microbiology, 11.
Del Olmo G, Ahmad A, Jensen H, Karunakaran E, Rosales E, Calero Preciado C, Gaskin P & Douterelo I (2020) . npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, 6(1).
Okurowska K, Karunakaran E, Al-Farttoosy A, Couto N & Pandhal J (2020) . Bioresource Technology, 319.
Del Olmo G, Rosales E, Karunakaran E, Jensen H, Calero C, Ahmad A, Gaskin P & Douterelo I (2020) . Access Microbiology, 2(7A).
Emery K, Roy S, Thokala P, Partridge L, Garg P, MacNeil S, Monk P & Karunakaran E (2020) . Journal of Visualized Experiments.
Roccuzzo S, Couto N, Karunakaran E, Kapoore RV, Butler TO, Mukherjee J, Hansson EM, Beckerman AP & Pandhal J (2020) . Frontiers in Microbiology, 11.
Dave A, Samarth A, Karolia R, Sharma S, Karunakaran E, Partridge L, MacNeil S, Monk P, Garg P & Roy S (2020) . Microorganisms, 8(2).
Raut MP, Couto N, Karunakaran E, Biggs CA & Wright PC (2019) . Scientific Reports, 9(1).
Raut MP, Couto N, Karunakaran E, Biggs CA & Wright PC (2019) . Scientific Reports, 9(1).
Flores C, Santos M, Pereira SB, Mota R, Rossi F, De Philippis R, Couto N, Karunakaran E, Wright PC, Oliveira P & Tamagnini P (2018) . Environmental Microbiology.
Jensen H, Biggs CA & Karunakaran E (2016) . Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 3(4), 487-494.
Karunakaran E, Vernon D, Biggs CA, Saul A, Crawford D & Jensen H (2016) . Water Science and Technology, 73(12), 3087-3094.
Nguyen V, Karunakaran E, Collins G & Biggs CA (2016) . Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, 143, 518-525.
Raut MP, Karunakaran E, Mukherjee J, Biggs CA & Wright PC (2015) . PLoS ONE, 10(10).
Abdul-Majeed WS, Karunakaran E, Biggs CA & Zimmerman WB (2015) . Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part A, 50(12), 1249-1258.
Minas K, Karunakaran E, Bond T, Gandy C, Honsbein A, Madsen M, Amezaga J, Amtmann A, Templeton MR, Biggs CA & Lawton L (2015) . Desalination and Water Treatment, 55(10), 2647-2668.
Honsbein A, Madsen MA, Amezaga JM, Biggs CA, Bond T, Gandy CJ, Karunakaran E, Lawton L, Minas K, Templeton MR & Amtmann A (2014) . New Biotechnology, 31, S140-S141.
Amezaga JM, Amtmann A, Biggs CA, Bond T, Gandy CJ, Honsbein A, Karunakaran E, Lawton L, Madsen MA, Minas K & Templeton MR (2014) . Plant Physiol, 164(4), 1661-1676.
Hanotu J, Karunakaran E, Bandulasena H, Biggs C & Zimmerman WB (2014) . Biochemical Engineering Journal, 82, 174-182.
Deepika G, Karunakaran E, Hurley CR, Biggs CA & Charalampopoulos D (2012) . Microb Cell Fact, 11, 116.
Evans C, Noirel J, Ow SY, Salim M, Pereira-Medrano AG, Couto N, Pandhal J, Smith D, Pham TK, Karunakaran E , Zou X et al (2012) . Anal Bioanal Chem, 404(4), 1011-1027.
Mukherjee J, Karunakaran E & Biggs CA (2012) . Biofouling, 28(1), 1-14.
Koerdt A, Orell A, Pham TK, Mukherjee J, Wlodkowski A, Karunakaran E, Biggs CA, Wright PC & Albers SV (2011) . J PROTEOME RES, 10(9), 4105-4119.
Karunakaran E, Mukherjee J, Ramalingam B & Biggs CA (2011) . Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 90(6), 1869-1881.
Karunakaran E & Biggs CA (2011) . Appl Microbiol Biotechnol, 89(4), 1161-1175.
Regan HC, Taylor AF & Karunakaran E () . Journal of Visualized Experiments(187).
Couto N, Newton JRA, Russo C, Karunakaran E, Achour B, Al-Majdoub ZM, Sidaway J, Rostami-Hodjegan A, Clench MR & Barber J () . Drug Metabolism and Disposition.
Okurowska K, Roy S, Thokala P, Partridge L, Garg P, MacNeil S, Monk PN & Karunakaran E () . Journal of Visualized Experiments(159).
Hardo G, Karunakaran E, Couto NA, Beckerman AP & Pandhal J () .
Urwin L, Okurowska K, Crowther G, Roy S, Garg P, Karunakaran E, MacNeil S, Partridge LJ, Green LR & Monk PN () . Cells, 9(11), 2450-2450.

Preprints

Vital-Vilchis I & Karunakaran E (2024) , MDPI AG.
Vital Vilchis I & Karunakaran E (2024) , MDPI AG.
Ragupathi NKD, Sethuvel DPM, G A, Murugan D, Baskaran A, Wannigama DL, Monk PN, Karunakaran E & Veeraraghavan B (2024) , Research Square Platform LLC.
Okurowska K, Suarez DRM & Karunakaran E (2023) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Nares-Rodriguez MI & Karunakaran E (2023) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Okurowska K, Monk PN & Karunakaran E (2023) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Cai Z, Karunakaran E & Pandhal J (2023) , Research Square Platform LLC.
Devanga Ragupathi NK, Muthuirulandi Sethuvel DP, Gopikrishnan M, Murugan D, Juliet R, Majhi M, Murugesan M, C GPD, Wannigama L, Monk PN , Karunakaran E et al () , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Ragupathi NKD, Sethuvel DPM, Dwarakanathan HT, Murugan D, Umashankar Y, Monk PN, Karunakaran E & Veeraraghavan B () .

Teaching activities

CPE327/6027 - Advanced Bioprocess Design

CPE443/6023 Synthetic Biology

Professional activities and memberships

Member of

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School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering

School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering

Dr Esther Karunakaran

Journal articles

Preprints

Links