Prashant K. Purohit
Associate Professor
Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics (MEAM)
Honors and Awards: NSF CAREER Award - 2010, ASEE Ferdinand P. Beer and E. Russell Johnston Jr. Oustanding New Mechanics Educator Award - 2010
Research Expertise: Mechanics of Materials | Biomechanics | Computational Mechanics
Prashant conducts his research at the interface of mechanics, physics, and biology. Using the Kirchhoff theory of filaments, he is able to describe the behavior of DNA at small length scales, and analyze its implications on the life cycle of viruses and the switching on and off of genes. Prashant studies the effect of thermal fluctuations or entropy, and is also interested in applications of the mechanics of lipid membranes to cellular organelles and the mechanics of material interfaces in slender bodies to micro-scale propulsion.
Member of:
Education:
PhD Applied Mechanics 2002 - California Institute of Technology
MS Applied Mechanics 1998 - California Institute of Technology
B Tech Mechanical Engineering 1997 - Indian Institute of Technology
Recent Publications 
- Nanoscale flexoelectricity, Nguyen, T.D. | Mao, S. | Yeh, Y.-W. | Purohit, P.K. | McAlpine, M.C., Advanced Materials, 2013
- Fibrin clots are equilibrium polymers that can be remodeled without proteolytic digestion, Chernysh, I.N. | Nagaswami, C. | Purohit, P.K. | Weisel, J.W., Scientific Reports, 2012
- Piezoelectric nanoribbons for monitoring cellular deformations, Nguyen, T.D. | Deshmukh, N. | Nagarah, J.M. | Kramer, T. | Purohit, P.K. | Berry, M.J. | McAlpine, M.C., Nature Nanotechnology, 2012
- Stochastic rate-dependent elasticity and failure of soft fibrous networks, Abhilash, A.S. | Purohit, P.K. | Joshi, S.P., Soft Matter, 2012
- Competition between supercoils and toroids in single molecule DNA condensation, Argudo, D. | Purohit, P.K., Biophysical Journal, 2012