Speaker: Dr. Razieh Khalifehzadeh
Title: Advanced Biomaterials and Molecular Engineering for Novel Biomedical Applications
Abstract: Recent progresses in electronic polymers and conductive materials have paved the way for novel classes of flexible electronics with physical form factors that bridge the gap between traditional rigid electronics and soft biological tissues. The associated scientific challenges are still significant and range from molecular sciences to device design, power supply engineering and data communication. My research has been focused on utilizing biomaterials science and molecular engineering to develop novel human-machine interfaces for improved disease diagnosis and therapy. In this presentation, I will first focus on a novel polymer design strategy to fabricate flexible and ultra-small pressure sensors for monitoring intracranial pressure (ICP) variations in brain tumor patients. The existing ICP measurement devices are large and require invasive catheter insertion in the cranial cavity which increases the risk of infection and hemorrhage. In contrast, my polymer-based pressure sensors can be easily implanted in brain for wireless and continuous monitoring of the ICP changes. Unlike rigid silicon electronics, this design is based on flexible polymer micro-structures that are engineered to perform as a capacitor for detecting minute pressure changes. I will continue my talk by discussing surface chemistry and molecular design strategies that I developed for fabrication of new generation of biodegradable and blood-compatible cardiovascular devices. Finally, I will explain how these versatile molecular engineering approaches can be combined with bioelectronics for point-of-care and personalized diagnosis and treatment of a variety of diseases, including cancers and neuro-psychiatric disorders.
Biography: Dr. Khalifehzadeh received a dual title Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering and Nanotechnology & Molecular Engineering from the University of Washington (UW). During her graduate studies in Prof. Buddy Ratner’s laboratory, she obtained fundamental training in biomaterials design, polymer chemistry, tissue-implant interactions and learned about FDA regulations and clinical translation process of medical devices. Throughout her graduate study, she received multiple prestigious awards such as Pre-doctoral Clinical Research Training (TL1) scholarship from National Center for Advancing Translational Science at NIH, Society for Biomaterials travel award, Dean of Engineering Scholarship and Graduate School Fund for Excellence and Innovation. During her postdoctoral Cancer-Translational Nanotechnology Training (Cancer-TNT) fellowship (NIH T32) in Profs. Zhenan Bao’s and late Sam Gambhir’s laboratories at Stanford University and Stanford School of Medicine, she focused on designing new conductive polymers and bioelectronic platforms for early diagnosis and therapy of several diseases, including brain tumors and neuro-psychiatric disorders. She is a recipient of the NIH K99/R00 postdoc-to-faculty transitional award from National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB). Her interdisciplinary research lies at the interface of engineering and translational medicine and focuses on the development of polymer-based, wireless, implantable or wearable bioelectronics for disease diagnosis and therapy. She has been highly involved in leading efforts to promote diversity among underrepresented students at UW and Stanford University. This has been recently recognized by NIH Maximizing Opportunities for Scientific and Academic Independent Careers (MOSAIC) program and Association of American Medical Colleges.