Body-interfaced biosensors

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, wound exudate, 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. Our wearable systems' clinical applications are evaluated through human trials in areas like human performance monitoring, stress response and mental health assessment, precision nutrition, chronic disease management, and drug personalization.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 and Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator at the California Institute of Technology. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego in 2014, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley from 2014 to 2017. He is an Associate Editor of Science Advances, npj Flexible Electronics, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, and Sensors & Diagnosis. He is a recipient of NSF Career Award, ONR Young Investigator Award, IAMBE Early Career Award, Sloan Research Fellowship, Pittcon Achievement Award, IEEE EMBS Early Career Achievement Award, IEEE EMBS Technical Achievement Award, IEEE Sensor Council Technical Achievement Award, MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35, and Falling Walls Breakthrough of the Year in Engineering and Technology. He is a World Economic Forum Young Scientist, a Highly Cited Researcher (Web of Science). He is an elected Fellow for AIMBE and RSC. His research interests include wearable biosensors, digital medicine, bioelectronics, flexible electronics, additive manufacturing, and micro/nanorobotics.