Interview with Manu Prakash

ABSTRACT Manu Prakash is Associate Professor of Bioengineering, Biology (courtesy) and Oceans (courtesy) at Stanford University and co-founder of Foldscope Instruments, Planktoscope and Cephla. Manu graduated with an undergraduate degree in theoretical computer science from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, before moving to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he completed a PhD in applied physics. Manu started his lab at Stanford in 2011 where he coined the term ‘curiosity-driven science’ to describe the breadth of his research. The lab combines asking questions about the extremes of biology with developing frugal science projects to democratize access to technology, allowing more people to be curious. His best-known frugal science project is the paper-based microscope, Foldscope and its associated programs that serve more than 2.5 million children worldwide. Manu is a plenary speaker at our upcoming conference, Biologists @ 100. We caught up with Manu to discuss his career path, his scientific philosophy and why he is excited about Biologists @ 100.