Buddini Karawdeniya

• Assistant Professor
• The Ohio State University
• karawdeniya.1@osu.edu
• @/buddini-karawdeniya-ph-d-366a579b/

Research Interests

• Solid-state nanopores for single molecule/particle sensing
• Gas sensors for non-invasive breath sensing
• Surface modifications for sensing
• Nanoscale drug delivery systems
• Metasurface sensors

Education

• Ph.D. in Analytical Sensors, Department of Chemistry, University of Rhode Island, USA​
• Graduate Chemist, Institute of Chemistry Ceylon, Sri Lanka
• Bachelor of Science (Biological Science): University of Colombo, Sri Lanka

Achievements & Awards

• Winner, Health Technology Innovation Challenge 2023 Australian Centre for Accelerating DIabetes Innovations(ACADI)
• Early Career Women in STEMM Writing Workshop (ECWW) Alumni Gold Award (2022)
• 2nd Prize in ECR Research Presentations Student and ECR Conference, ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS)
• Graduate Student Research Award (2017) Eastern Analytical Symposium
• Graduate School Fellowship (2017) University of Rhode Island
• NSF EPSCoR Track II NEWRNet travel award (2016) University of Rhode Island
• FACSS Student Poster Award (2015) SciX 2015 Conference
• Outstanding Third Year Graduate Student Award and Phillis R. Brown Chemistry Scholarship (2015). Dep. of Chemistry, University of Rhode Island
• URI Intellectual Property Awards (2015-2018) University of Rhode Island
• R. Ken Force Graduate Fellowship for Analytical Chemistry (2014) University of Rhode Island

Themes

• Manipulate

Dr. Buddini Iroshika Karawdeniya is a research scientist and academic specializing in the intersection of chemistry, nanotechnology, and biomedical engineering. She currently serves as an Assistant Professor at The Ohio State University, with dual appointments in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Early Life and Education

Originally from Sri Lanka, she pursued a career in research, earning two undergraduate degrees in 2010: a Bachelor of Science in Biological Science from the University of Colombo and a Graduate Chemist degree from the Institute of Chemistry Ceylon. In 2012, she moved to the United States to pursue her doctorate. She earned her Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the University of Rhode Island in 2018 under the mentorship of Dr. Jason Dwyer, focusing on the development of nanostructures for chemical sensing.

Professional Career

Following her Ph.D., Dr. Karawdeniya held several research positions in the US and Australia, Southern Methodist University (2018–2020): Conducted postdoctoral research in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Australian National University (2020–2024): Served as a Research Fellow within the Research School of Physics and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Transformative Meta-Optical Systems (TMOS). During this time, she was a key figure in the “Our Health in Our Hands” (OHIOH) project, aiming to develop personalized health monitoring technologies. The Ohio State University (Current): Leads the Karawdeniya Lab, focusing on “innovative sensing technologies for biomedical applications and beyond.”

Research and Innovation

Dr. Karawdeniya’s work is centered on creating portable, non-invasive diagnostic tools. Her primary areas of expertise include: Solid-State Nanopore Sensing: Developing single-molecule sensors for analyzing biomarkers and proteins. Metasurface Optical Sensors: Using nanostructured surfaces to detect gases and biological fluids. Gas/Breath Sensing: Creating technology to detect volatile organic compounds in exhaled breath to monitor conditions like diabetes. In addition to her research papers in prestigious journals such as Nature Communications and Chemical Reviews, she holds multiple U.S. patents, an international patent application, and invention disclosures related to her sensor platforms.

Personal Interests

Outside the lab, she is an advocate for graduate student mentorship and has written advice for early-career scientists that has been published in Nature and Science. She enjoys traveling, reading, writing poetry, and cooking Sri Lankan and South Indian cuisine.