Invited Speaker Profiles
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Paru Deshpande Paru Deshpande completed his PhD at Princeton University in the area of polymer self-assembly for lithography. After completing his studies, he joined BioNanomatrix, a life sciences startup company, as the first employee. During his 7 years at BioNanomtrix, he led projects in single molecule DNA detection and assay development. In 2011 he took on the role of Director of Instrument Development and also managed early product testing at customer sites. In June 2012, he joined imec as program director for life sciences.
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Calum McNeil is Professor of Biological Sensor Systems in the Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University Medical School. His research interests are in the design and development of highly specific 'bioelectronic' interfaces between inorganic surfaces and biological species (antibodies, microbial cells, enzymes and redox proteins). This work has led to the production of a number of electrochemical and microelectromechanical sensor systems capable of the direct, rapid measurement of biological and chemical species in complex matrices. |
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| Tony Cass is currently Professor of Chemical Biology, Deputy Director and Research Director (Bionanotechnology) in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. His research interests are in the field of analytical biotechnology and particularly in the use of protein engineering and design to produce new reagents for biosensors and bioanalysis. He pioneered the use of synthetic electron transfer mediators for enzyme biosensors and his work in this area led to the development of the first electronic blood glucose measuring system, commercialised by MediSense Inc. (now part of Abbott Diagnostics), and the award of the Royal Society's Mullard Medal (along with Professor HAO Hill FRS and Dr MJ Green). |  |
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Alexei Kornyshev is Professor of Chemical Physics in the Chemistry Department, Imperial College. He is an expert in condensed matter theoretical chemical physics and its applications to biophysics, electrochemistry, nanoscience, and energy generation and storage. Through the years his particular areas of research were electron and proton transfer reactions and processes, hydration, metal/electrolyte and liquid-liquid interfaces, transport phenomena in solid electrolytes and polymer electrolyte membranes, aggregation and recognition of helical biopolymers and the structure of chiral liquid crystals, theory of modern fuel cells (PEFC/DMFC, SOFC) and super-capacitors. |
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Terence Risby Dr. Risby's research stresses the development of novel, highly sensitive analytical chemical approaches used as non-invasive biomarkers of tissue injury and disease, with primary application to the clinical setting. His laboratory has developed breath markers of biosynthesis of cholesterol, liver function and liver disease, and nutritional status. He has applied these techniques to human subjects of all ages, and in a variety of clinical situations, as, for example, in the premature infant and in patients undergoing transplantation surgery. |
Chris Van Hoof Chris Van Hoof is Director of the Body Area Networks activities at imec in Leuven, Belgium and Eindhoven, the Netherlands as well as Program Director of Wearable Healthcare (HUMAN++). In this program, imec and its industrial partners from across the value chain create and validate solutions at technology, component and application level. Chris Van Hoof has a track record of 20 years of initiating, executing and leading national and international contract R&D at imec. He transferred technology to one startup and delivered space qualified flight hardware to two cornerstone European Space Agency missions. After a PhD in Electrical Engineering (University of Leuven, 1992), Chris Van Hoof has held positions at imec at manager and director level in diverse technical fields (sensors and imagers, MEMS and autonomous microsystems, wireless sensors, body-area networks). Chris Van Hoof is also full professor at the University of Leuven (KULeuven). |
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