The driving force, instilled in childhood, for finding a cure

As a child, I always liked science and was quite sporty, but I used to suffer from asthma. And unfortunately, at a lot of critical junctures I used to fall ill.

And that became the driving force for me – I thought, “I have to find a cure”. I remember standing up in class, probably year nine, and saying that I wanted to be a scientist when I grew up, and here I am.

I originally thought that a scientist in industry was the right way for me but realised the freedom to develop and execute my ideas lay in academia and the passport to that was a PhD.

Southampton mirrors my personality

I came to Southampton to do my PhD in electrochemistry. But it expanded into a collaboration with chemical biologists and then with the physics department, and the Optoelectronics Research Centre – truly interdisciplinary.

After my PhD, I went to the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge for my post-doctoral work. When I was ultimately offered a position to return to Southampton in 2012 under the ‘Rising Star’ scheme – I didn’t think even twice before accepting as I knew from deep within that it was the right one for me.

Southampton is special and most importantly, it mirrors my personality. I thrive in collaborative and open environments, where one can take initiative, often without worrying about politics, feel supported, where members genuinely want to work together, where success is rewarded but failure is seen as a growth opportunity.

Real-world impact

I study the interaction of light with materials, specifically materials that are biological and medical in origin, to learn more about them and how they change in different situations.

Sumeet and his colleagues are working on:

• Creating a simple finger prick blood test, or patch on your shoulder that can be sent to you through the post that could provide information about your brain health and whether you have, or you’re developing, early signs of dementia, or your likelihood of developing dementia within 10 years. Some of this is now being commercialised via a University spinout called ‘Brainalyze.’
• Creating a non-invasive light-based platform for imaging tissue – and organ-mimicking models to accelerate drug discovery. This is being done in partnership with leading pharma companies.
• The effects of microplastic and nanoplastic pollution on corals in the marine environment, how they have been taken up by corals and what damage they might be causing coral reefs. This then gives our ocean scientist colleagues valuable information about the health of these marine creatures and ecosystems.

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Telling his story

Earlier this year, Sumeet was contacted by the Marketing team about being one of the faces of the new UoS brand campaign. He told us what it meant to him to tell his story and raise his profile:

I couldn’t believe it at first but when it finally sunk in, I felt truly honoured and humbled to have been chosen for the campaign.

Recognition of contributions is always a great motivator for scientists and this [being part of the brand campaign], was like a shot in the arm! Especially, since I have been increasingly focused on accelerating impact from our research. For me, research and academia as a career has always been a very personal choice.

My singular motivation has been to do good – make a difference and make it better – in any small way one can. I chose my medium to achieve that through research and training the next generation.

So telling my story was in a way cathartic too, the interviewers and the team made it easy for me to share my personal story which probably was known to only my closest family and friends.

Find out more

• Read more about Sumeet’s research: From sci-fi to reality: a visionary tale | University of Southampton
• Brand and brand campaign
• Advice and support with raising the profile of your work 

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