Ilā Ravichandran is an Assistant Professor of legal studies at UW Tacoma. She is an interdisciplinary sociologist with work in feminist studies, critical carceral studies, legal studies, Black studies and science & technology studies. Her research focuses on the intersections of science and law and engages the global policing apparatus.

Ravichandran is a 2026-2027 Society of Scholars fellow for their project BioCapture: Technoscientific, Legal and Cultural Assemblages of Molecular Carceral Control. This book investigates DNA-based policing's rapid expansion through technoscientific innovation, legal frameworks, and cultural narratives. The urgency is stark: since 2020, 1.5 million immigrant profiles entered databases, and technologies now process DNA in precincts within ninety minutes. They examine how these convergent forces extend surveillance across families and generations, disproportionately targeting communities of color, revealing how genetic code has become infrastructure for carceral control.