Faculty

Venkatesh Balan, Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Biotechnology

Office 223, Sugar Land Academic Building

Phone 713-743-6640

Fax 713-743-4032

Email vbalan [at] uh.edu

Biography

Dr. Venkatesh Balan is a distinguished biotechnology researcher and team leader with over 28 years of experience in both industry and academia. He has secured numerous grants, organized sponsored workshops, and received multiple awards for his excellence in teaching and research. His groundbreaking work on the patented Ammonia Fiber Expansion (AFEX) process for biomass pretreatment at Michigan State University gained national attention, including a 2014 visit from President Barack Obama. Dr. Balan has authored over 190 peer-reviewed publications, holds nine issued patents, and has managed over $13 million in research funding. At the University of Houston, he established the Microbial Products Lab pioneering research in environmental biotechnology. He is a leading expert in the use of microorganisms to produce biofuels, chemicals, and other value-added products, with deep expertise in microbial fermentation, protein genetic engineering, and bioprocess optimization. His work, particularly in engineering microbes such as algae, fungi, and bacteria to convert renewable resources like lignocellulosic and algal biomass into sustainable products, is pivotal in advancing industrial biotechnology and sustainable production methods.

Education

Ph.D., Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India (1992-1999)
M.Sc., Madras University, India (1989-1991)
B.Sc., Madras University, India (1986-1989)

Other Appointments

Joint appointment at Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Houton (Since 2018).
Affiliated faculty with Department of Environmental Engineering, University of Houton (Since 2023).

Professional Experience

Associate Professor at Department of Engineering Technology, University of Houston, (2022-present).
Assistant Professor at Department of Engineering Technology, University of Houston, (2017- 2022)
Research Associate Professor at Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science, Michigan State University (2009-2017).
Visiting Assistant Professor at Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science, Michigan State University (2006-2009).
Research Associate at Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Science, Michigan State University (2005-2006).
Research Associate at Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (2004-2005).
STA-JSPS fellow, Kansai AIST Center, Ikeda, Japan (2002-2004).
RITE, Oji Paper Co., Tokyo, Japan (2001-2002).
JSPS Fellow, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan (1999-2001).

Classes

Courses Taught at University of Houston

Research Interests

At UH, Dr. Balan established the Microbial Products Lab, which leverages multidisciplinary approaches—including chemistry, biology, and engineering—to produce biomolecules for medicinal and industrial applications. His research focuses on the following areas:

Lignocellulosic biomass conversion to Fuels and Chemicals.
- Alkaline pretreatment, Enzyme hydrolysis producing fermentable sugars.
- Yeast/E. coli fermentation to fuels and chemicals.
- Lignin fractionation and valorization to biomaterials.
Utilizing micro and macro Algae to reduce GHG emissions and nutrients in wastewater.
- Hydrothermal processing of algal biomass to proteins and biocrude.
- Use of algal biomass as plant fertilizer and producing fuels and chemicals.
- Sequestering carbon and removing nutrients from wastewater.
Developing carbon-neutral Fungal food, biomaterials and medicinal compounds
- Developing energy-efficient mycelium and mushroom food products
- Developing sustainable mycelium leather, textile, and building materials
- Producing immune modulating oligosaccharides and metabolites to treat cancer.
Chitin and Chitosan extraction from different sources and producing biomaterials.
- Extracting chitin and chitosan using environment friendly methods.
- Derivatization of Chitosan to increase their chemical and biological properties.
- Cross-linking Chitosan derivatives into hydrogel for different applications.
Producing recombinant protein for bioprocessing and biomedical applications.
- Producing protein L and their mutants to efficiently purify antibodies.
- Producing recombinant lignin degrading bacterial enzymes.
- Producing chitin and chitosan degrading enzymes.

Awards & Honors

Selected as USDA E. Kika De La Garza Fellow (June 2024).
Elected as a recipient of the ‘‘Advanced Materials Award’ from the International Association of Advanced Materials, Sweden (January 2024).
Joint appointment with UH Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (October 2023).
Best poster award, Algal Biomass organization, Madison, Wisconsin. (October 2023).
Third place in UH Energy Competition, UH Center for Carbon Management and Energy. (September 2023).
Teaching Excellence Award, College of Technology (February 2020).
Recognized as a Top 3% Scientist Worldwide by the Meta-Research Innovation Center, Stanford University (August 2019)
Research excellence award, College of Technology (February 2019).
Award to organize a workshop at NITK, Mangalore, Global Initiative of Academic Network (sponsored by MHRD, Government of India) (December 2018).
Joint appointment with UH Department of Biomedical Engineering (November 2017).
STA-JSPS fellowship for two years, Government of Japan (January 1, 2002).
Japanese Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) fellowship for two years, Government of Japan (January 1, 1999).
Received Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) fellowship for five years from Government of India (February 1, 1992).

For a full list of publications, please visit my Google Scholar

Selected Journal Articles (last 5-years)

Koirala, B., Kafle, A., Nguyen, H.C., Kang, J., Zakeri, A., Balan, V., Merchant, F., Benhaddou, D., Zhu, W. (2024). A Hybrid Three-Finger Gripper for Automated Harvesting of Button Mushrooms. Actuators, 13(8), 287. https://doi.org/10.3390/act13080287.
Ammar, A., Smith, J.D., Aslan, U., Balan, V., Robertson, M.L., Alamgir, K. (2024). Pressure Indicator Composite Films via Compressive Deformation of a Translucent Matrix Containing a Contrasting Filler. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 16(15), 19432-1944. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsami.3c18380.
Mohammadi, M., Alian, M., Dale, B., Ubanwa, B., Balan, V., (2024). Multifaced application of AFEX-pretreated biomass in producing second-generation biofuels, ruminant animal feed, and value-added bioproducts. Biotechnology Advances, 72, 10834. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2024.108341.
Muhammad, A., Wafa, T., Isabella Sanchez, H., Rohana, K., Smith, J. D., Wallaert, S. J., Alamgir, Karim, Robertson, M. L., Balan, V. (2024). Fractionating Chitin-Glucan Complex and Coproducts from Pleurotus Ostreatus Mushrooms. Waste and Biomass Valorization. 15, 2897–2910. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-023-02364-5.
Pierson, J., Makkena, G. R., Kumar, S., Kumar, V., Vivekanand, V., Husain, H., Ayser, M., Balan, V. (2023). Modeling the Production of Microalgal Biomass in Large Water Resource Recovery Facilities and Its Processing into Various Commodity Bioproducts. Fermentation, 9(10), 909. https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation9100909.
Agrawal, D., Awani, K., Nabavi, S. A., Balan, V., Jin, M., Aminabhavi, T. M., Dubey, K. K., Kumar, V. (2023). Carbon emissions and decarbonisation: The role and relevance of fermentation industry in chemical sector. Chemical Engineering Journal, 475, 146308. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2023.146308.
Kumar, V., Agrawal, D., Bommareddy, R. R., Islam, M. A., Jacob, S., Balan, V., Singh, V., Thakur, V. K., Navani, N. K., Scrutton, N. S. (2023). Arabinose as an overlooked sugar for microbial bioproduction of chemical building blocks. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, 1-18. https://doi.org/10.1080/07388551.2023.2270702.
Balan, V., Pierson, J., Husain, H., Kumar, S., Saffron, C., Kumar, V. (2023). Potential of using microalgae to sequester carbon dioxide and processing to bioproducts. Green Chemistry, 25, 7934. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3GC02286B.
Yadav, M., Balan, V., Varjani, S., Tyagi, V. K., Chaudhary, G., Pareek, N., Vivekanand, V. (2023). Multidisciplinary pretreatment approaches to improve the bio-methane production from lignocellulosic biomass. BioEnergy Research, 16(1), 228-247. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-022-10489-z.
Dong, H., da Costa Sousa, L., Ubanwa, B., Jones, A Daniel, Balan, V. (2022). A new method to overcome Carboxyamide formation during AFEX pretreatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass. Frontiers in Chemistry, 9, 826625. https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2021.826625.
Balan, V., Zhu, W., Krishnamoorthy, H., Benhaddou, D., Mowrer, J., Husain, H., Eskandari, A. (2022). Challenges and opportunities in producing high-quality edible mushrooms from lignocellulosic biomass on a small scale. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 106, 1355–1374. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-021-11749-2.
Mokomele, T., da Costa Sousa, L., Colbert, A., Dale, B. E., Gorgens, Johann F, Balan, V. (2022). Coupling AFEX and Steam-exploded sugarcane residue pellets with a room temperature CIIII-activation step lowered enzyme dosage requirements for sugar conversion. Chemical Engineering Journal, 446, 137117. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2022.137117.
Morais, A. R. C., Zhang, J., Dong, H., Otto, W. G., Mokomele, T., Hodge, D., Balan, V., Dale, B. E., Lukasik, R. M., da Costa Sousa, L. (2022). Development of an ammonia pretreatment that creates synergies between biorefineries and advanced biomass logistics models. Green Chemistry. 24(11), 4443-4462. https://doi.org/10.1039/d2gc00488g.
Tang, X., Zhao, K., Gao, C., Gao, X., Balan, V., Wang, W. (2022). Isolation of Lignin from Anaerobically Digested Unhydrolyzed Solids Produced in a Biorefinery. Agriculture, 12(10), 1621. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture12101621.
Abdul, Latif, Khan, Lucas, Dantas, Lopes, Saqib, B., Sajjad, A., Kerri, M. C., Venkatesh, B., Ahmed, A. R., Ahmed, A. H., Daniel, P. S. (2022). Microbiome Variation Across Populations of Desert Halophyte Zygophyllum qatarensis. Front. Plant Sci., 13, 841217. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.841217.
Raghatate, A., Cortes Vega, F. D., Velazquez Meraz, O., Ahmadi, K., Chaudhari, N. M., Solanki, D., Puthirath, A. B., Castaneda, N., Ajayan, P. M., Herrera Ramirez, J. M., others (2022). Sustainable Biocomposites for Structural Applications with Environmental Affinity. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 14(15), 17837-17848. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c02073.
Bhalla, A., Arce, J., Ubanwa, B., Singh, G., Sani, R. K., Balan, V. (2022). Thermophilic Geobacillus WSUCF1 Secretome for Saccharification of Ammonia Fiber Expansion and Extractive Ammonia Pretreated Corn Stover. Frontiers in Microbiology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2022.844287.
Xue, S., Pattathil, S., da Costa Sousa, L., Ubanwa, B., Dale, B., Jones, A Daniel, Balan, V. (2022). Understanding the structure and composition of recalcitrant oligosaccharides in hydrolysate using high-throughput biotin-based glycome profiling and mass spectrometry. Scientific reports, 12(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-06530-y.
Ruben Dario Romero, P., Wischral, D., Mendes, T. D., Pacheco, Th'alyta Fraga, Urben, A. F., Helm, C. V., Simone, M., Balan, V., Felix Goncalves, d. S. (2021). Co-culturing of micro-and macro-fungi for producing highly active enzyme cocktail for producing biofuels. Bioresource Technology Reports, 16, 100833. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biteb.2021.100833.
Sonia, T., Zhuang, M., Kumara, M., Balan, V., Ubanwa, B., Vivekanand, V., Pareeka, N. (2021). Multifaceted production strategies and applications of glucosamine: a comprehensive review. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology. https://doi.org/10.1080/07388551.2021.2003750.
Balan, V., Novak, D., Knudson, W., Jones, A Daniel, Fabiola Maria, I.-F., Auras, R., Cho, S., Rodgers, A., Ubanwa, B. (2021). Nutritious mushroom protein crisp-healthy alternative to starchy snack. Food Production, Processing and Nutrition, 3(1), 33. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43014-021-00077-7.
Kumar, M., Madhuprakash, J., Balan, V., Singh, A. K., Vivekanand, V., Pareek, N. (2021). Chemoenzymatic production of chitooligosaccharides employing ionic liquids and Thermomyces lanuginosus chitinase. Bioresource Technology, 337, 125399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125399.
Paritosh, K., Yadav, M., Kesharwani, N., Pareek, N., Karthyikeyan, O. P., Balan, V., Vivekanand, V. (2021). Strategies to improve solid state anaerobic bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass: an overview. Bioresource Technology, 331, 125036. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125036.
Gao, X., Tang, X., Zhao, K., Balan, V., Zhu, Q. (2021). Biogas Production from Anaerobic Co-Digestion of Spent Mushroom Substrate with Different Livestock Manure. Energies, 14(3), 570. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14030570.
Chundawat, S. P., Pal, R. K., Zhao, C., Campbell, T., Teymouri, F., Videto, J., Nielson, C., Wieferich, B., Sousa, L., Dale, B. E., Balan, V., Chipkar, S., Aguado, J., Bruker, E., Ong, R. G. (2020). Ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass. JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments)(158), e57488. https://www.jove.com/video/57488.
Zhou, X., Shen, Y., Xu, Y., Balan, V. (2020). Directing cell catalysis of glucose to 2-keto-d-gluconic acid using Gluconobacter oxydans NL71. Process Biochemistry, 94, 365-369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.procbio.2020.04.038.
Thota, S. M., Balan, V., Sivaramakrishnan, V. (2020). Natural products as home-based prophylactic and symptom management agents in the setting of COVID-19. Phytotherapy Research, 34(12), 3148-3167. https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.6794.
Paritosh, K., Balan, V., Vijay, V. K., Vivekanand, V. (2020). Simultaneous alkaline treatment of pearl millet straw for enhanced solid state anaerobic digestion: Experimental investigation and energy analysis. Journal of Cleaner Production, 252, 119798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119798.
Yadav, M., Singh, A., Balan, V., Pareek, N., V, V. (2019). Biological treatment of lignocellulosic biomass by Chaetomium globosporum: Process derivation and improved biogas production. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 128, 176-183. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2019.01.118.
Agrawal, D., Basotra, N., Balan, V., Tsang, A., Chadha, B. S. (2019). Discovery and Expression of Thermostable LPMOs from Thermophilic Fungi for Producing Efficient Lignocellulolytic Enzyme Cocktails. Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 191, 463–481 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-019-03198-5.
Avci, U., Zhou, X., Pattathil, S., Leonardo, S. D., Hahn, M. G., Dale, B., Xu, Y., Balan, V. (2019). Effects of Extractive Ammonia Pretreatment on the Ultrastructure and Glycan Composition of Corn Stover. Frontiers in Energy Research, 7, 85. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2019.00085.
Sousa, Leonardo da Costa, Humpula, J., Balan, V., Dale, B. E., Chundawat, S. P. (2019). Impact of Ammonia Pretreatment Conditions on the Cellulose III Allomorph Ultrastructure and Its Enzymatic Digestibility. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 7(17), 14411-14424. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.9b00606.
Mokomele, T., da Costa Sousa, L., Balan, V., van Rensburg, E., Dale, B. E., Gorgens, J. F. (2019). Incorporating anaerobic co-digestion of steam exploded or ammonia fiber expansion pretreated sugarcane residues with manure into a sugarcane-based bioenergy-livestock nexus. Bioresource technology, 272, 326-336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2018.10.049.
Kim, S., Dale, B. E., Jin, M., Thelen, K. D., Zhang, X., Meier, P., Reddy, A. D., Jones, C. D., Cesar Izaurralde, R., Balan, V., others (2019). Integration in a depot-based decentralized biorefinery system: Corn stover-based cellulosic biofuel. GCB Bioenergy, 11(7), 871-882. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcbb.12613.
Liu, Y., Liu, G., Zhang, J., Balan, V., Bao, J. (2019). Itaconic acid fermentation using activated charcoal-treated corn stover hydrolysate and process evaluation based on Aspen plus model. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, 10, 463–470 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-019-00423-3.
Kumar, R., Bhagia, S., Smith, M. D., Petridis, L., Ong, R. G., Cai, C. M., Mittal, A., Himmel, M. H., Balan, V., Dale, B. E., others (2018). Cellulose-hemicellulose interactions at elevated temperatures increase cellulose recalcitrance to biological conversion. Green chemistry, 20(4), 921-934. https://doi.org/10.1039/C7GC03518G.
Flores-Gomez, C. A., Silva, E. M. E., Zhong, C., Dale, B. E., da Costa Sousa, L., Balan, V. (2018). Conversion of lignocellulosic agave residues into liquid biofuels using an AFEX-based biorefinery. Biotechnology for biofuels, 11(1), 7. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-017-0995-6.
Mokomele, T., da Costa Sousa, L., Balan, V., Van Rensburg, E., Dale, B. E., Gorgens, J. F. (2018). Ethanol production potential from AFEX™ and steam-exploded sugarcane residues for sugarcane biorefineries. Biotechnology for biofuels, 11(1), 127. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-018-1130-z.
Saisi, X., A. Daniel, J., Leonardo, S., Jeff, P., Mingjie, J., Cory, S., Dale, B. E., Venkatesh, B. (2018). Extractive Ammonia pretreatment exerted binary inhibitory effects on yeast fermentation using synthetic hydrolysate. Plos One, 13(3), e0194012. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0194012.
Zhou, X., Zhou, X., Liu, G., Xu, Y., Balan, V. (2018). Integrated production of gluconic acid and xylonic acid using dilute acid pretreated corn stover by two-stage fermentation. Biochemical Engineering Journal, 137, 18-22. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bej.2018.05.005.
Meyer, J. R., Waghmode, S. B., He, J., Gao, Y., Hoole, D., da Costa Sousa, L., Balan, V., Foston, M. B. (2018). Isolation of lignin from Ammonia Fiber Expansion (AFEX) pretreated biorefinery waste. Biomass and Bioenergy, 119, 446-455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2018.09.017.
Das, A., Rahimi, A., Ulbrich, A., Alherech, M., Motagamwala, A. H., Bhalla, A., da Costa Sousa, L., Balan, V., Dumesic, J. A., Hegg, E. L., others (2018). Lignin conversion to low-molecular-weight aromatics via an aerobic oxidation-hydrolysis sequence: comparison of different lignin sources. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 6(3), 3367-3374. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.7b03541.
Paritosh, K., Yadav, M., Mathur, S., Balan, V., Liao, W., Pareek, N., Vivekanand, V. (2018). Organic fraction of municipal solid waste: overview of treatment methodologies to enhance anaerobic biodegradability. Frontiers in Energy Research, 6, 75. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenrg.2018.00075.
Balan, V., Munafo, Jr, John, P., Pattathil, S., Merritt, B. B., Venketachalam, S., Ng, W.-O. (2018). Protocols to Evaluate the Nutritional and Potential Health Benefits of Edible Mushrooms. Current Biotechnology, 7(1), 34-58. http://dx.doi.org/10.2174/2211550105666160503170750.
Zhou, L., da Costa Sousa, L., Dale, B. E., Feng, J.-X., Balan, V. (2018). The effect of alkali-soluble lignin on purified core cellulase and hemicellulase activities during hydrolysis of extractive ammonia-pretreated lignocellulosic biomass. Royal Society open science, 5(6), 171529. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.171529.
Mokomele, T., da Costa Sousa, L., Bals, B., Balan, V., Goosen, N., Dale, B. E., Gorgens, J. F. (2018). Using steam explosion or AFEX™ to produce animal feeds and biofuel feedstocks in a biorefinery based on sugarcane residues. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, 12(6), 978-996. https://doi.org/10.1002/bbb.1927.

Book Chapter

Balan, V., Jin, M., Ubanwa, B. (2020). Chemical and thermochemical methods on lignocellulosic biorefinery. Recent Advances in Bioconversion of Lignocellulose to Biofuels and Value Added Chemicals within the Biorefinery Concept (pp. 101). Elsevier.
Jones, A Daniel, Boundy-Mills, K. L., Barla, G. F., Kumar, S., Ubanwa, B., Balan, V. (2019). Microbial lipid alternatives to plant lipids. Microbial Lipid Production (pp. 1-32). Humana, New York, NY.

Patents

Method for producing and refining light-emitting beetle-derived red luciferase-stabilized form. Katsuhiro O, Balan V, Yuujitsu A (National Institute of Advanced & Technology, November, JP 2008-263996).
Process for producing sugars and ethanol using corn stillage. Balan V, Chundawat SPS, Sousa LDC and Dale BE. US 8,367,378 B2 (Patent Date Feb. 5, 2013).
Method of Pretreating Biomass. Balan V, Dale BE, Chundawat SPs, Sousa LDC. US8,968,515 B2 (Patent Date March 3, 2015).
Extraction of soluble from plant biomass for use as microbial growth stimulant and methods related thereto. Lau MW, Dale B, Balan V, Chundawat S. US9206446 B2 (Patent Date Dec. 8, 2015).
Methods for producing extracted and digested products from pretreated lignocellulosic biomass. Chundawat S, Sousa LDC, Cheh AM, Balan V and Dale B. US 9,650,657 B2 (Patent Date May 16, 2017).
Yeast Strains. Slininger PJ, Thompson SR, Balan V, souse LDC, Dale B, Shen-Andersh MA, Dien BS. US US9,873,896 B2 (Patent Date Jan. 23, 2018).
Methods for Increasing Sugar Yield with Size-Adjusted lignocellulosic Biomass Particles. Balan V, Dale BE, Harun S. US 10,202,660 B2 (Patent Date Feb. 12, 2019).
Pretreatment of densified biomass using liquid ammonia and systems and products related thereto. Balan V, Souse LDC. US 10,730,958 B2 (Patent Date Aug. 4, 2020).
Adjustable particle separator system and method of using same. Alba K, Mirzaeian N, Balan V, US 11,406,918 B2). Assignee; University of Houston. (Patent Date Aug. 9, 2022).
De-esterification of biomass prior to ammonia pretreatment. Balan V, Sousa LDC. US 11,440,999 B2 (Patent Date Sep. 13, 2022).