Joydeep Lahiri, Ph.D.
Division Vice President and Program Director, Specialty Surfaces
Corning Corporation

Dr. Joydeep Lahiri is Division Vice President and Program Director of Specialty Surfaces, part of the Emerging Innovations Group at Corning Incorporated. He is presently working on anti-microbial technology and coatings. He has made several key research contributions at Corning, which include the invention of GPCR microarrays, lanthanide-doped microbarcodes and Epic™ cell assays. He is the author of over 30 research publications and holds 25 granted U.S. patents. Dr. Lahiri obtained his Bachelor’s degree from St. Stephen's College (Delhi), his Master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (Kanpur), his Doctoral degree in chemistry from Princeton University, and carried out postdoctoral research at Harvard University. In 2012, Dr. Lahiri completed the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard Business School.

Copper-Containing Glass Powder Additive for Anti-Microbial Coatings
Metallic copper’s anti-microbial properties are well known. Copper kills microbes via multiple mechanisms that render it highly potent against human pathogens, including antibiotic-resistant “superbugs”. In 2008, the U.S. EPA introduced a new test protocol for the registration of copper metal and copper-alloy surfaces with claims of bactericidal efficacy against human pathogens. However, utilizing metallic copper surfaces for infection control comes with drawbacks of cost and appearance. Our innovation – copper-containing glass powder – harnesses the anti-microbial properties of copper by stabilizing bioactive Cu(I) ions and making them available by a slow-release mechanism. The glass powder readily disperses in water, has broad-spectrum efficacy and a favorable toxicological profile. Latex paints containing copper-glass powder exhibit ≥99.9% reduction in bacterial colony counts when evaluated by the U.S. EPA “test method for efficacy of copper-alloy surfaces as sanitizer”. Incorporated at low concentrations, copper-containing glass powder is an effective “in-can” preservative, preventing bacterial contamination by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Enterobacter aerogenes when tested by ASTM D2574. Given the challenges of infectious disease control and concerns with toxic biocides, the copper-containing glass powder offers a pragmatic and broadly deployable solution for antimicrobial coatings.