NanoBioTech 2026

Dr. Azahar Ali

Title: From Nanofabrication to Integrated Health Systems: Reimagining Biosensing Beyond the Lab

Dr. Azahar Ali is a tenure-track Assistant Professor in the School of Animal Sciences at Virginia Tech, where he leads research in biosensor engineering with a focus on precision animal farming and integrated health monitoring. He holds affiliate faculty appointments in Biological Systems Engineering and is affiliated with the Center for Advanced Innovation in Agriculture and the Center for Emerging Zoonotic and Arthropod-Borne Pathogens (CeZAP) at Virginia Tech.

Dr. Ali’s research bridges micro- and nanofabrication, additive manufacturing, and electrochemical sensing to develop deployable biosensors for agricultural, biomedical, and environmental applications. Prior to joining Virginia Tech, he conducted postdoctoral research at Carnegie Mellon University, served as a Visiting Researcher at the Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), and was a Postdoctoral Researcher at Iowa State University. He earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad.

Dr. Ali has authored 81 peer-reviewed journal articles, delivered more than two dozen conference presentations, and holds 16 filed patents. His work has been cited nearly 6055 times (h-index 46, i10-index 76). He is the recipient of several honors, including the Distinguished Alumni Award from IIT Hyderabad (2023) and the Virginia Tech By-Example Award (2025), recognizing his contributions to high-impact, translational biosensing technologies.

Abstract:

Modern health systems across human, animal, and environmental domains remain largely reactive, relying on episodic, laboratory-based measurements that provide delayed and incomplete insight into dynamic biological processes. Despite major advances in biosensor sensitivity and analytical performance, most sensing platforms remain optimized for controlled experimental conditions rather than the complex, evolving environments in which real-world health decisions are made. This gap between laboratory innovation and deployable diagnostics continues to limit the real-world impact of biosensing technologies. In this keynote, I will present a unifying vision for reimagining biosensing beyond the lab, positioning advanced manufacturing as a central enabler of translation. I will highlight how lithography-based micro- and nanofabrication, together with scalable additive manufacturing and three-dimensional printing, provide unprecedented design freedom over sensor geometry, architecture, and system integration. These capabilities allow biosensors to be engineered around biological reality, including variability, motion, and continuous interaction, rather than static test conditions. The talk will feature representative case studies illustrating how this manufacturing-driven design philosophy translates across diverse applications. Examples include printed biosensors for SARS-CoV-2 detection, neurochemical sensing of dopamine, and highly sensitive sensing platforms for the early detection of subclinical hypocalcemia and mastitis in dairy cows, where timely intervention is critical but conventional diagnostics remain delayed or episodic. Together, these examples demonstrate how a common fabrication and systems approach can be adapted across human and animal health contexts. The keynote will conclude with a forward-looking perspective on how advanced manufacturing–enabled biosensors, when integrated with edge electronics, machine learning, and system-level analytics, can serve as foundational infrastructure for next-generation integrated health systems. Such systems have the potential to shift health monitoring from episodic testing to continuous insight, and from reactive response to proactive, data-driven decision-making across clinical, agricultural, and environmental domains.

Dr. Netz Arroyo

Title: Insights into the Transport of Molecules Across Body Compartments via Aptamer Sensors

Netzahualcóyotl Arroyo Currás, known as Netz Arroyo, is an Associate Professor of Chemistry at University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2014 from The University of Texas at Austin under the guidance of Allen J. Bard. From 2015 to 2018 he completed postdoctoral training under Dr. Kevin W. Plaxco at University of California Santa Barbara. He became Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) in 2019 and was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor in 2023. In 2024, he was invited to move his research program to UNC, where he currently works since 2025. His laboratory pursues the development of electrochemical biosensors for continuous molecular monitoring in the body, and for clinical diagnostics. He was named a Rising Star in Sensing by the journal ACS Sensors in 2020, and in 2023 his research was highlighted as highly impactful by the journal Langmuir, both publications of the American Chemical Society. Dr. Arroyo serves as Interim Editor-in-Chief of the newly launched journal Sensors Plus by The Electrochemical Society. He is funded by the NIH, AFRL, several corporate sponsorships and by private foundations. In his free time, he enjoys playing, dancing, and eating ice cream with his daughters in the lovely city of Chapel Hill, NC.

Abstract:

The Netz Lab at UNC develops electrochemical biosensors and continuous molecular monitoring technologies to enable real-time, personalized health management. Our work centers on electrochemical aptamer-based (E-AB) sensors that use structure-switching receptors for highly selective and reversible detection of clinically relevant biomarkers. By combining advanced surface chemistry, redox reporter optimization, and computational modeling, we design sensors that are stable, miniaturized, and biocompatible for wearable or implantable platforms. Current efforts focus on continuous monitoring of protein biomarkers to assess metabolic health, with additional applications in therapeutic drug monitoring and point-of-care diagnostics. This presentation will highlight our progress in interfacing sensors with the body and addressing questions of molecular transport across tissue compartments. Ultimately, we aim to answer a key question: Which molecules can be measured minimally invasively through the skin while accurately reflecting medically relevant blood concentrations?

Michael Daniele

Title: How Much Data is Enough? From Continuous Wearables and Insterables to Single-Use Patches Biochemical Data

Michael Daniele is a Professor and University Faculty Scholar in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He co-founded the North Carolina Viral Vector Initiative in Research and Learning (NC VVIRAL) and the NC State Institute for Connected Sensor-Systems (IConS), and he is the current Co-Director of the NSF Nanosystems Engineering Research Center for Advanced Self-Powered Systems of Integrated Sensors and Technologies (ASSIST). He joined the faculty in 2015 from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, where he was a Jerome and Isabella Karle Distinguished Scholar in Materials Engineering. In 2019, he co-founded DermiSense, Inc., a medical device startup developing blood-free diagnostics, and he currently serves as its Chief Science Officer. Dr. Daniele’s research focuses on engineering materials and microsystems for wearable biosensors, microphysiological systems, and translational biotechnologies that monitor, mimic, or augment biological function.

Abstract:

Wearable technologies have transformed the capture of electrical, optical, and mechanical biosignals, accelerating translation into clinical and consumer devices. Biochemical sensing is now following a similar trajectory, but it spans multiple operating modes that each impose different constraints on sampling, sensor stability, calibration, and user workflow. In this talk, I will present a spectrum of on-body biochemical biosensing approaches, moving from sweat-based wearables, to continuous dermal interstitial fluid (ISF) monitoring, to rapid single-use microneedle-enabled tests designed for near-immediate decision-making. A central theme will be the field’s pivot from sweat to dermal ISF. Sweat is convenient but often suffers from uncertain systemic correlation, contamination risk, and highly variable sampling kinetics. Dermal ISF offers a more stable and clinically relevant biomarker milieu, but requires engineered interfaces to enable safe, low-burden access and repeatable mass transport to the sensor. I will highlight our work on biosensor integration strategies that address these challenges across both continuous wearables and disposable formats. Finally, I will describe an alternative and complementary path: single-use ISF biosensors that leverage microneedle interfaces to deliver rapid, clinically actionable biochemical measurements with a user experience closer to a “test strip” than a durable wearable. Rather than optimizing for multi-day operation, these devices prioritize speed, simplicity, and consistency, enabling high-confidence measurements in minutes for applications such as point-of-care testing, therapeutic monitoring, and decentralized screening. Together, these modes illustrate how thoughtful integration of skin-access interfaces, microfluidics, and low-power bioelectronics can unlock scalable, accessible biochemical sensing for both clinical and consumer health.

Dr. Reza Ghodssi

Title: Revolutionizing Gut Health: Ingestible Devices and Technologies for Disease Diagnosis and Treatment 

Dr. Reza Ghodssi is a Distinguished University Professor, the Herbert Rabin Distinguished Chair in Engineering, and a Distinguished Scholar Teacher at the University of Maryland (UMD). Dr. Ghodssi is Director of the MEMS Sensors and Actuators Lab (MSAL) in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and the Institute for Systems Research (ISR) and the Inaugural Executive Director of Research and Innovation of the MATRIX Lab at UMD. Dr. Ghodssi's research interests are in the design and development of micro-, nano-, and bio-devices and systems for chemical and biological sensors and actuators, and small-scale energy conversion and harvesting for healthcare applications. Dr. Ghodssi is President of the Transducer Research Foundation (TRF), a Fellow of IEEE, AVS, and ASME, has 178 journal publications and 378 refereed conference papers, and is the co-editor of the MEMS Materials and Processes Handbook published in 2011. Dr. Ghodssi served as chair and technical program chair of several national and international MEMS conferences, including the 2022 and 2020 Hilton Head Workshops. Dr. Ghodssi was the lead organizer and chair of the inaugural Denice Denton Emerging Leaders Workshop 2016 held in Madison, Wisconsin, which focused on helping mid-career faculty (women and men) develop knowledge, skills, strategies, and critical networks. He served as an associate editor for the Biomedical Microdevices (BMMD) for 13 years (2008-2021) and served as an associate editor for the Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems (JMEMS) for twelve years (2008-2020). He has ten U.S. patents issued, nine U.S. patents published, and another seven pending. Dr. Ghodssi received several awards and recognitions, including the 2024 American Vacuum Society (AVS) Gaede-Langmuir Award.

Abstract:

Gastrointestinal (GI) diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and various forms of cancer, are increasingly prevalent due to a combination of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors, impacting more than 40 million people in the US alone. Current medical tools for monitoring and treating GI diseases date back to the 1970s and require invasive procedures. An emerging method for probing the GI tract is the use of minimally invasive devices to monitor, detect, diagnose, and treat, particularly in remote regions of the GI. These devices rely on MEMS and microsystems, which have demonstrated the potential to improve healthcare through compact, low-power, and cost-effective solutions for continuous, real-time monitoring and advanced diagnostics, enabling early disease detection, and out-patient digital healthcare. Microsystems, such as wearable electronics, that interface with the body have been thoroughly explored both academically and commercially. Recently, the application of MEMS and Microsystems to ingestible devices has yielded key technologies to address GI-related diseases. The accessible nature of the GI tract provides a gateway for analyzing bodily processes and reaching specific organ systems for treatment.

My group’s research focuses on the development of ingestible tools for monitoring and treatment of GI and systemic diseases. Our integrated devices featuring embedded electronics and sensors enable analysis of critical biomarkers, like hydrogen sulfide (H₂S), neurotransmitters, and tissue permeability, while actuators allow sampling and drug delivery at precise locations in tissue for highly effective on-command treatment. It is our hope that these technologies will not only be integrated into ingestible devices but also prove worthy of addressing these problems, making such monitoring tools more accessible to a larger population around the world. In this talk, I discuss some of the challenges and future opportunities of these integrative micro/nano/bio technologies and systems.

Dr. Vamsi Yadavalli

Title: Nature-derived, photo-actuated biomaterials for the fabrication of functional biodevices

Dr. Vamsi Yadavalli is a Professor in the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia, USA. He is currently serving as a Program Director in the Engineering Biology and Health Cluster within the Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET) Division at the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Dr. Yadavalli received his PhD from Penn State University and conducted postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health. His group currently works at the interface of materials science, nanotechnology, and biology to understand multiscale behavior from the nano to the macro scales. He has published over 100 papers in top journals including Advanced Materials, Biosensors & Biolectronics, and ACS journals. He holds several US Patents and is a member of the VCU chapter of the National Academy of Inventors. He received a Fulbright Scholar award to visit the University of Trento, Italy, conducting research in the area of silk biomaterials. His research has been supported by the Dreyfus Foundation, NSF, DTRA, and Commonwealth of Virginia grants.

Abstract:

We are at a transitional phase in materials technologies, with a shift from rigid components to soft and flexible systems. Such devices have broad applications for energy and the environment, including electronic skins, soft robotics, tissue engineering, and wearable or implantable sensors for continuous monitoring of bioinformation. Bioinspired and bioderived materials obtained from the silk cocoon provide an exciting pathway towards creating precise and personalized tools, while addressing issues of environmental sustainability and mitigation of electronic waste. Both silk fibroin and silk sericin have a unique palette of properties that make them extremely versatile and viable candidates for soft (bio)electronics in diverse forms.

Silk proteins can serve as both the passive and active components either by themselves or as composites with a diverse multifunctional materials. Composites with organics such as conducting polymers provide added functionality, together with tunable properties, biocompatibility and biodegradability, which provides prospects for sustainable engineering. This talk will discuss work in transitioning to natural precursors and silk-based biocomposites that can be used as wearable sensors and implantable devices, biophotonic elements, energy-storage devices, assistive technologies, and human-machine interfaces. By integrating microfabrication with silk proteins, we show how high resolution, high-fidelity bio devices can be formed in both rigid and flexible formats in two and three dimensions. Such devices can be interfaced with soft tissue to provide two-way communication. The ease of fabrication, biochemical functionalization, biocompatibility, as well as tunable mechanical properties and biodegradation of these biomaterials provide unique possibilities as environmentally sustainable, devices for broad ranging applications.

Dr. Xuewei Wang

Title: Seeing Chemicals in Blood: Microfluidic and Millifluidic Optical Sensors Based on Oil Droplets

Dr. Xuewei Wang is the Mary E. Kapp Associate Professor of Chemistry at Virginia Commonwealth University. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences and completed a JDRF Advanced Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor. He established his independent research program in 2019, focusing on the development of optical and electrochemical sensors for chemical analysis in complex samples, particularly in ultra-small volumes of blood. His group also designs biocompatible and antibacterial medical implants through the controlled release of nitric oxide. Dr. Wang’s research is currently supported by multiple NIH, foundation, and corporate grants. He is the lead inventor on eight issued and pending U.S./PCT patents and a co-founder of a start-up company aimed at creating the first at-home electrolyte meter. He is the recipient of the 2025 Virginia State Outstanding Faculty Award and the 2024 VCU Outstanding Early Career Faculty Award.

Abstract:

The Wang group develops two fluidic platforms that utilize specially formulated oil droplets as optical sensors for analyzing blood chemistry, including electrolytes, metabolites, enzymes, and drugs. The first platform, pressure-driven droplet microfluidics, continuously generates sub-nanoliter oil droplets as sensors for chemical analysis of equally small aqueous samples. This system enables real-time, multi-analyte monitoring in continuously aspirated biofluids, making it a promising tool for bedside critical care applications in hospital settings. The second platform, push-pull millifluidics, integrates a microliter-scale fluidic channel with a stepper motor to enable controlled extraction between an oil segment and an aqueous sample. Designed for portability and affordability, this system offers a practical solution for diagnosing and managing chronic diseases in home and small-clinic settings. Unlike traditional optical sensors, these fluidic platforms uniquely enable independent tracking of optical signals from the sensor phase, the sample phase, and the interface. By leveraging fluorescence and absorbance detection in the oil phase, we have performed a variety of chemical and biochemical analyses on complex biological samples including whole blood.