When
Monday, November 18th, 2024 - 12:00 p.m.
Wei Gao
Professor of Medical Engineering
Ronald and JoAnne Willens Scholar and Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator
California Institute of Technology
"Skin-Interfaced Wearable Biosensors"
Keating 103
Zoom link | Password: BearDown
Hosts: Alex McGhee and Swarna Ganesh
(Instructor permission required for enrolled students to attend via Zoom)
Persons with a disability may request a reasonable accommodation by contacting the Disability Resource Center at 621-3268 (V/TTY).
Abstract: The growing interest in personalized medicine is set to transform conventional healthcare, offering new avenues for predictive analytics and tailored treatment approaches. In this talk, I will present our advancements in developing wearable biosensors for non-invasive molecular analysis. These wearables autonomously access and sample body fluids, such as sweat and exhaled breath condensate, continuously monitoring a wide array of analytes—including metabolites, nutrients, hormones, proteins, and drugs—during various daily activities. To enable large-scale, cost-effective manufacturing of these high-performance nanomaterial-based sensors, we leverage techniques such as laser engraving, inkjet printing, and 3D printing. The clinical utility of our wearable systems is assessed through a series of human trials, focusing on precision nutrition, stress response and mental health assessment, chronic disease management, and drug personalization. Our wearable systems' clinical applications are evaluated through human trials in areas like precision nutrition, stress response monitoring, mental health assessment, chronic disease management, and drug personalization. Furthermore, I will explore our efforts in energy harvesting from both the human body and the environment, paving the way for battery-free, wireless biosensing devices. This integration of wearable technologies has the potential to revolutionize personalized healthcare, spanning diagnostics, real-time monitoring, and therapeutic innovations.
Bio: Wei Gao is a professor of medical engineering, Ronald and JoAnne Willens Scholar, and Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator at the California Institute of Technology. He earned his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, San Diego in 2014, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley from 2014 to 2017. He is serving as an associate editor for Science Advances, npj Flexible Electronics, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, and Sensors & Diagnostics. His achievements have garnered a number of awards and honors, such as NSF Career Award, ONR Young Investigator Award, IAMBE Early Career Award, Sloan Research Fellowship, Pittcon Achievement Award, IEEE EMBS Early Career Achievement Award, IEEE Sensor Council Technical Achievement Award, Falling Walls Breakthrough of the Year 2023 in Engineering and Technology, 3M Non-Tenured Faculty Award, MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35, ACS DIC Young Investigator Award, and Materials Today Rising Star Award. He is also recognized as a World Economic Forum Young Scientist, a Highly Cited Researcher (Web of Science), and is a member of the Global Young Academy. His research interests encompass a wide range of areas including wearable sensors, bioelectronics, flexible electronics, and micro/nanorobotics.
For additional information, visit Gao's research website.