Vinayak P. Dravid is the Abraham Harris chaired professor of materials science & engineering. He is also the founding director of the NUANCE Center and the NSF Center called SHyNE Resource. The NUANCE Center houses state-of-the-art atomic and nanoscale microscopy, characterization and instrumentation capabilities, which was selected as the Midwest node of the NSF National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) program called SHyNE Resource. Professor Dravid has extensive experience in the development and applications of innovative “imaging and sensing” tools and techniques to problems in physical and life sciences. Following his sabbatical at NIH in 2001-2, he expanded his research activities at the interface between physical and life sciences, with a focus on nanostructures for biomedical imaging, diagnostics and therapy.