Nikul Khunti
Papers
2
Total Citations
221
H-Index
2
About
Nikul Khunti is a key figure in the development of advanced instrumentation for synchrotron-based structural biology, with a primary focus on small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). His most impactful contribution is the design and implementation of Beamline B21 at Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron. As detailed in his highly cited 2020 paper (193 citations), B21 is a high-throughput SAXS beamline that delivers an intense \(2 \times 10^{12}\) photons per second to a compact 34-micrometer beam spot, enabling rapid, solution-based structural analysis of biomolecules. This work has made B21 a critical resource for researchers studying proteins, nucleic acids, and their complexes in near-native conditions. Beyond the beamline itself, Khunti engineered a multipurpose sample cell holder (28 citations) that integrates with robotic bioSAXS changers at major facilities like the ESRF and Petra IV. By leveraging 3D printing for rapid prototyping, he created a versatile, low-cost hardware solution that expands the automation and throughput capabilities of SAXS experiments. Khunti’s contributions are foundational to modern high-throughput structural biology, directly enabling thousands of experiments and accelerating discoveries in drug design and molecular biophysics.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1
- 2