Tissue-like soft bioelectronics for continuous biomarker monitoring

 

Tissue-like soft bioelectronics for continuous biomarker monitoring

 

Date: 20^th March, 2026 (Friday)

Time: 12 - 12:50 pm (HKT)

 

Venue: Lecture Theatre P2, Chong Yuet Ming Physics Building

 

 

Department of Chemical Engineering

Stanford University

 

Chuanzhen Zhao is an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at Stanford University, working with Professor Zhenan Bao. His research establishes chemical engineering principles for soft bioelectronic interfaces, integrating materials design, biosensing, and circuits to enable continuous molecular monitoring in the body. He developed intrinsically stretchable semiconducting polymers and biomolecule-functionalized interfaces for seamless body-machine integration. He also advanced integrated polymer circuits for on-chip signal conditioning and neuromorphic computing.

 

Dr. Zhao earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from UCLA under Professors Paul S. Weiss and Anne M. Andrews, where he developed aptamer-based biosensing platforms and nanofabrication techniques. His doctoral work established fundamental approaches to overcoming the Debye length limitation in electrochemical sensing. Building on this molecular sensing expertise, he demonstrated the first implantable aptamer-based field-effect transistor neuroprobes for real-time detection of neurotransmitters in freely moving animals.

 

Dr. Zhao has authored over 30 peer-reviewed publications, including 13 first-author papers in leading journals such as Nature Electronics, Science Advances, Nature Reviews Bioengineering, ACS Nano, and Nano Letters. Dr. Zhao was named to Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science in 2023 for his contributions to biosensing technologies for mental health monitoring. He has also received the MRS Gold Graduate Student Award, the NIH F32 Postdoctoral Fellowship, and the IEEE Best PhD Thesis in Nanotechnology Award.

 

Molecular biomarkers in body fluids offer direct windows into disease states and physiological conditions. Continuous tracking of these biomarkers enables earlier disease detection and personalized treatment strategies. However, current technologies face fundamental challenges: the Debye length limits sensitive detection in physiological fluids, and mechanical mismatches between rigid devices and soft tissue cause inflammation and sensor drift.

 

I will present tissue-like soft bioelectronic devices that address these challenges through integrated advances in molecular recognition, polymer chemistry, and circuit design. First, I engineered aptamer-functionalized field-effect transistor biosensors that overcome the fundamental Debye length limitation through interfacial charge modulation, enabling highly sensitive and selective biomarker detection. Second, to achieve mechanical biocompatibility with tissue, I designed intrinsically stretchable semiconducting polymers with tissue-like mechanical properties and biological functionality through covalent grafting strategies that preserve electronic performance under strain. Third, I created integrated stretchable polymer-based circuits for on-chip signal conditioning and amplification, enabling robust biosignal acquisition in physiologically relevant environments.

 

These integrated platforms enable real-time neurochemical monitoring for mental health applications. I developed implantable neural probes for continuous serotonin monitoring in the brain, enabling fundamental studies of anxiety and depression mechanisms. I also developed skin-like wearable sensors to monitor the stress biomarker cortisol in sweat and interstitial fluid. Together, these technologies establish chemical engineering principles for designing soft bioelectronic interfaces that enable continuous molecular monitoring in the body.

 

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