February 9, 2022

At Drexel, Dr. Fridman’s is dedicated to his work in the Nyheim Plasma Institute (NPI)— the birthplace of the field of plasma medicine, with a commitment to its “educational mission and to creating a collegial research environment supporting breakthroughs in plasma science and engineering.” Dr. Fridman founded the institute in 2002 with the goal of specializing in plasma engineering and medicine, though its focus changes depending on the course the research takes. Innovation runs deep at the Institute— whether working on treatments for cancer, plasma chemistry and biology, or plasma applications in agriculture and food preservation. The Institute’s focus is always plasma, but application directions rely on the most urgent societal needs, and the unmet challenges in modern technology and medicine.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led the institute to work on related projects, the first focusing on sterilization and regeneration of masks.

 Dr. Fridman speaking at the 1st International Meeting on Plasma Cosmetic Science.

The second coronavirus-related project is a system for air purification, utilizing plasmas that can clean air. Machines like this already exist to ensure the air is sterile, but the Institute intends to enhance this technology to kill coronavirus. Institute researchers, especially Drs. Alexander Rabinovich and Danil Dobrynin are working on the corona-virus projects together with Dr. Christopher Sales and his colleagues from the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering.