From a young age, Dr. Huawei Li found himself curious about biodevices and how they worked. He recalls a defining moment in his childhood—watching his father use a lancing device to test blood sugar levels and being astonished when the results came out almost instantly. He was in awe of how much easier it made people’s lives—how they didn’t need to go to the hospital or clinic each time a test was required, and how this sped up the process of daily monitoring.
At the time, Dr. Li did not know how a lancing device worked, but the impact of that moment on his budding curiosity, coupled with a deep sense of care for patient well-being, would lead him on a fulfilling career path working in the field of design and fabrication of microscale and nanoscale biodevices—a remarkable fusion of biological and technological innovation. Today, these devices are widely used for a variety of medical purposes, from monitoring vitals to detecting and treating diseases, and even aiding in surgeries.
The Conconi Family Foundation was motivated by a similar sense of care as Dr. Li. Their belief in community investment and the need to accelerate the innovation and delivery of better care led them to support the establishment of the world-class Conconi Family Biodevice Foundry at the UBC School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME).
“We’re very proud to support the creation of UBC’s biodevice foundry to help unlock life changing technical progress being developed here at home in B.C.,” says Alex Conconi, board member of the Conconi Family Foundation. “The new biodevice foundry will leverage the minds and creativity of students, faculty and the broader community to pull the future forward and help make advanced health care more accessible to all of us.”
Building the Conconi Family Biodevice Foundry from the ground up deeply resonated with Dr. Li. He comes to UBC from eastern Canada, where he gained extensive experience with design and fabrication of biodevices through his roles as a product manager at a company specializing in miniaturized biodevices and as a biodevice researcher at the University of Toronto.
“There is a significant demand for this biodevice foundry to support both biomedical researchers and the industry, but I was surprised to find that there wasn’t one in western Canada. When I noticed this gap, I thought ‘I could be the one to join them and help shape the organization and development of the biodevice foundry,’ so that attracted me a lot,” says Dr. Li. “I was really excited over the unique opportunity to help advance the life sciences sector in this region of the country.”
On the prospect of close collaboration with biomedical researchers, Dr. Li sees it as a special opportunity—a symbiosis of sorts, where his expertise paired with theirs can produce something new under the sun.
“With expertise in the design and fabrication of biodevices, I’m deeply interested in how it can address biomedical and clinical challenges. Through close collaboration with biomedical experts, we can effectively make this work and tackle complex problems” says Dr. Li. “This role at the UBC School of Biomedical Engineering puts me in a good position because I can develop biodevices and collaborate with experts in this field so we can complement each other.”
Dr. Li stood out in a rigorous selection process as the right person to build and manage an innovative ecosystem as the Conconi Family Biodevice Foundry’s inaugural operations manager. In addition to his knowledge and expertise in complex device fabrication, he brings more than a decade of experience inmanaging shared research facilities with a collaborative vision and relationships with over 200 academic and industry partners.
“I’m so excited Dr. Li has joined the team we’re building at the Conconi Family Biodevice Foundry,” says Dr. Govind Kaigala, director of partnerships and community engagement of SBME. “In this collaborative workspace, bioengineers will innovate with specialized equipment and the help of highly trained staff to create devices and technologies that hold the potential to improve health and wellness.”
The Conconi Family Biodevice Foundry goes beyond implementing off-the-shelf biodevices for users to create custom solutions by innovating with novel materials, techniques and biodevice types. Researchers and industry partners will no longer need to outsource micro/nano-device prototyping to facilities farther away—using the SBME facility as a one-stop shop that covers all their needs locally will accelerate their work.
This state-of-the-art facility is set up to catalyze groundbreaking advancements in biomedical technology and train the next generation of biomedical innovators.
“The Conconi Family Biodevice Foundry is transformative for our community. It will provide our faculty and trainees with state-of-the-art equipment and world-class research and learning opportunities that prepare them to contribute to the biotech industry,” says Dr. Peter Zandstra, director of SBME. “It will help with discoveries and translating new biodevices that will impact patient health and fuel the life sciences industry both locally and globally.”