Dr. Sameer Sonkusale

The speaker will introduce a new paradigm of "Human in the loop" precision medicine, made possible by advances in flexible sensors, microfluidics, drug delivery, and electronics. The closed loop approach is expected to be more effective in improving the health outcomes of individuals across broad demographics, as opposed to the current open-loop one-size-fits-all approach to medicine. The presentation will draw on examples from the speaker's own interdisciplinary research projects. For instance, the speaker will showcase a novel toolkit of sensors, microfluidics, electronics, and drug delivery, all integrated onto a surgical suture, which realizes the vision of tissue-embedded diagnostics. Even electronic transistors and integrated circuits can be created on a single thread, giving rise to "free-form three dimensional integrated circuits." The use of textile threads offers unique advantages such as wide availability, affordability, versatility of materials, and easy textile-based processing. The talk will also feature a project that employs additive manufacturing and laser micromachining to develop smart lab-on-a-pill devices that can spatially sample the gut microbiome in vivo. These ingestible pills have the potential to capture the spatial microbial biogeography of the gut, providing valuable insights into host-microbiome interactions and opening up a new realm of ingestible diagnostics compared to traditional fecal analysis. The talk will conclude with a forward-looking perspective on the field of bioelectronics and the exciting possibilities it holds. More importantly, it will showcase knowledge gaps and how the biomedical circuits and systems community canl help address those in near term and long term.

Biography:

Sameer Sonkusale is a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Tufts University, where he holds joint appointments in the departments of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical and Biological Engineering. He also served as a visiting professor at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital of the Harvard Medical School during 2011-2012 and 2018-2019, respectively. In 2012-2013, Dr. Sonkusale also served as the Associate Dean of Graduate Education in the School of Engineering at Tufts University. He currently directs an interdisciplinary research group, the Nano Lab, which focuses on developing new devices and systems for healthcare, biology, life sciences, and the environment.

Dr. Sonkusale is a prolific inventor of several biomedical devices, including "smart bandages," "smart sutures," and "lab-on-a-pill." His innovation on "lab-on-a-pill" was listed as one of the top eight biomedical innovations in the world for the year 2020 in the STAT Madness challenge. The technologies developed in his lab have been licensed to several companies and have resulted in the creation of venture backed startup companies.

Dr. Sonkusale earned his MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania and has received several awards, including the National Science Foundation CAREER award in 2010. He was also honored with a Distinguished Alumni award from his alma mater, BITS Pilani. He is Radha K Maheshwari Distinguished Lecturers  at USU in 2023, and IEEE CAS Distinguished Lecturer in 2024-2025. Dr. Sonkusale is also an alumnus of the National Academy of Engineering US Frontiers of Engineering meeting in 2015, and the National Academy of Sciences Arab-America Frontiers meeting in 2014 and 2016. Dr. Sonkusale serves on the editorial boards of several prominent journals, including Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group), IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Circuits and Systems, PLoS One, and Electronic Letters. He is a senior member of the IEEE and a member of OSA, MRS, BMES, and AAAS.

Dr. Jhonattan Cordoba Ramirez

Light, a fundamental source of life, has been masterfully harnessed by humans for a wide array of applications, ranging from sophisticated defense systems to the intricate detection of complex diseases. This talk will delve into the manipulation and utilization of light as it propagates through both integrated and non-integrated optical systems. We will explore the diverse applications of these systems and discuss the cutting-edge technological advancements that are emerging on the horizon, promising to reshape the future of photonics.

Biography:

He received his PhD. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Campinas (UNICAMP) in 2017. In 2018, before joining to the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG), he moved to the University of California in Santa Barbara (UCSB), where he worked as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE). Currently, he holds an Assistant Professor position in the Electronic Engineering Department at UFMG. Member of the Brazilian Photonics Society (SBFoton), OPTICA (Formerly Optical Society of America - OSA), IEEE Photonics Society, and IEEE Circuits and System Society. Selected as OPTICA Ambassador Class 2022, and IEEE Senior Member.