SBME SYMPOSIUM 2024

Our keynote speaker this year is Dr. George Church, geneticist and founder of Synthetic Biology at Wyss Institute, Harvard University.

Dr. Rangarajan Sampath is a seasoned professional with a career spanning three decades. He is renowned for his visionary leadership and groundbreaking contributions to the fields of medical technologies, in-vitro diagnostics, and digital health solutions. Dr. Sampath’s extensive experience encompasses diverse environments, including start-ups, small and large corporate settings, and the global health sector. As a thought leader in his field, Dr. Sampath continues to be a driving force behind positive change, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the pursuit of better health and a brighter future for everyone, everywhere.

In his current role as the Senior Vice President and Head of Center for Innovation in Diagnostics at Siemens Healthineers, he leads innovation and new product development in the areas of oncology, neurology and infectious diseases. CID’s focus is to drive disruptive next generation innovation, development and commercialization of in-vitro diagnostics, automation and digital health solutions.

Prior to this, Dr. Sampath was Chief Scientific Officer at Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), a Geneva-based non-profit organization (NGO) focused on bringing cutting edge diagnostics to low- and middleincome countries, where he headed FIND’s research and development organization, leading its innovation, product development and disease programs.

For the first 20+ years of his career Dr. Sampath served as a Volwiler Senior Research Fellow and Senior Director of R&D for the Ibis Division of Abbott. He led Ibis’ R&D efforts in infectious disease diagnostics, antimicrobial resistance diagnostics and surveillance, and was responsible for applications development, validation, data analysis and reporting for the Ibis PCR/ESI-MS based IRIDICA platform. Dr. Sampath was the co-founder of Ibis Biosciences, Inc. and a co-inventor of the IRIDICA (CE-IVD) infectious disease diagnostics platform.

Dr. Sampath is a recognized leader in the field, with over 100 publications and over 40 issued patents in infectious disease diagnostics. He is currently on the Board of Sepsis Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to bringing sepsis awareness to healthcare settings and the general public alike. He has been an invited speaker at many public forums such as at the Institute of Medicine, Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) and Parenteral Drug Association (PDA). Dr. Sampath most recently served for a 3-year term as a member of the Diagnostics Committee for IDSA. His research interests include sepsis, antimicrobial strategy development, pathogen discovery, fevers of unknown origin, tropical diseases, epidemiological surveillance and biothreat detection.

Education
Ph. D., Chemical Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 1989-1995
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India 1985-1989

Dr. Mehmet Kurt is the director of Kurtlab and an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington Department of Mechanical Engineering. Mehmet received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Bogazici University (Istanbul, Turkey) and his Ph.D. in Mechanical Science and Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He was a postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Bioengineering at Stanford University from 2014 to 2016. Prior to joining UW in 2022, he was an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Stevens Institute of Technology.

Mehmet’s research is focused on biological and biomedical challenges, particularly in the areas of brain biomechanics, neuromechanics imaging, nonlinear systems, and smart biomedical devices. Some examples of his research projects include investigating the nonlinear dynamics of the human brain during head impacts, studying aneurysm stability through aneurysm wall motion imaging, and measuring brain tissue stiffness in vivo through ultra-high resolution MR Elastography in Alzheimer’s Disease.

His awards include the Lucile Packard Children Hospital Postdoctoral Fellowship, Thrasher Research Foundation Early Career Award, Provost’s Early Career Award for Research Excellence and the Thomas Bernard Hall Prize. His research and neuroimaging work has been recognized with prizes and coverage in the popular media, including an NSF Best Scientific Visualization (Vizzie) Award, being named in the 40 under 40 list in Turkey by Fortune Magazine, and an Annals of Biomedical Engineering Editor’s Choice Award. His research group is currently sponsored by multiple grants from NSF, NIH and DoD. Mehmet is active in a variety of initiatives to increase the participation and visibility of LGBTQ+ students in STEM, including through mentorship programs and outreach events.

Molly S. Shoichet is University Professor and Michael E Charles Professor in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto. She served as Ontario’s first Chief Scientist and has been awarded numerous honours including Fellow, Royal Society (UK), Fellow, National Academy of Engineering (USA), and NSERC Herzberg Gold Medal – Canada’s highest award for science/engineering, among many others. Dr. Shoichet’s research focuses on innovative 3D cell culture models for drug discovery, and drug and cell delivery strategies to overcome central nervous system-related pathologies. She is a prolific entrepreneur, co-founding multiple spin-off companies, and a passionate advocate for translational research and science communication.