2nd Australian Future Sensing Conference
2nd Australian Future Sensing Conference
Plenary Speakers
Distinguished Professor Kevin Plaxco
Vice Chair Faculty Affairs and Joint Appt. BioE and BMSE - UC Santa Barbara
Biography
Kevin Plaxco, a Distinguished Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, holds appointments in the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry and of BioEngineering.
Prior to joining UCSB in 1998 Dr. Plaxco received his Ph.D. from Caltech and performed postdoctoral studies at Oxford and the University of Washington.
Dr. Plaxco’s research focus is on the physics of biomolecular folding and its engineering applications. A major aim of the group’s applied research is to harness the speed and specificity of folding in the development of sensors, adaptable surfaces, and smart materials. Dr. Plaxco has co-authored more than 250 papers and two dozen patents on protein folding, protein dynamics, and folding-based sensors and materials. He serves on the scientific boards of a half dozen biotechnology firms, several of which are commercializing technologies developed by his group, and has also written a popular science book on Astrobiology.
Professor Wei Gao
California Institute of Technology
Biography
Wei Gao is a Professor of Medical Engineering and Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator at the California Institute of Technology. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego in 2014, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, Berkeley from 2014 to 2017. He is an Associate Editor of Science Advances, npj Flexible Electronics, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, and Sensors & Diagnosis. He is a recipient of NSF Career Award, ONR Young Investigator Award, IAMBE Early Career Award, Sloan Research Fellowship, Pittcon Achievement Award, IEEE EMBS Early Career Achievement Award, IEEE EMBS Technical Achievement Award, IEEE Sensor Council Technical Achievement Award, MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35, and Falling Walls Breakthrough of the Year in Engineering and Technology. He is a World Economic Forum Young Scientist, a Highly Cited Researcher (Web of Science). He is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the Royal Society of Chemistry. His research interests include wearable biosensors, electrochemistry, digital medicine, bioelectronics, and micro/nanorobotics.
For additional information about Gao’s research, please visit:
www.gao.caltech.edu
Professor Yuling Wang
Macquarie University
Biography
Yuling Wang is a professor of chemistry and an ARC Future Fellow at Macquarie University. She is also a Fellow of the Royal
Society of Chemistry (FRSC). Yuling completed her PhD at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2009. She was then awarded an Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) fellowship (2010) and a German Research Foundation (DFG) Individual Grant Fellowship (2012), working at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. In
2014, she received the ARC DECRA fellowship and worked at the University of Queensland. Recently, Yuling was awarded the NHMRC Investigator Grant (Leadership 1) to develop new nanotechnology for personalized breast cancer management. Since 2017, she has established her group with 6 postdoctoral
research fellows and 12 HDR students. Her research focuses on platform technology that uses functional nanomaterials and nanotechnology for biomarkers sensing, aiming to enhance in vitro diagnostics and personalized medicine.
