We next welcome Dr. Jia Liu from the Shriram Center for Bioengineering and Chemical Engineering, and the Department of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University.

"Bioelectronics for Tissue and Organ Interfaces:  From Tissue-like Electronics to Genetically-targeted Biosynthetic Electrodes"

Abstract: Rapid progress in materials science and electronics has blurred the distinction betwen man-made electronic devices and biological systems.  Seamless integration of high-performance electronic devices with living systems could contribute substantially to basic biology as well as to clinical diagnostics and therapeutics through tissue-electronics interfaces.  In this presentation, I will first introduce a syringe-injectable tissue-like mesh electronics for merging nanoelectronic arrays and circuits with the brain in three-dimension (3D).  The injectable mesh electronics has micrometer feature size and effective bending stiffness values similar to neural tissues.  These unprecedented features lead to the gliosis-free and 3D interpenetrated electronics-neuron network, enabling the chronically stable neuron activity recording with single-neuron resolution in behaving animals.  Second, I will describe a fuly stretchable electronic sensor array through the development and lithographic assemble of multiple chemically-orthogonal and intrinsically stretchable polymeric electronic materials.  The fully stretchable sensor array has modulus similar to bilogical tissues, allowing its intimate mechanical coupling with heart for a stable and anatomically precise electrophysiological recording.  Its applicatoin for high-throughput and high-dinsity mapping of 3D cardiac arrhythmogenic activities at cellular resolution on the porcine model with a chronic atrial fibrillation will be discussed.  Third, I will present a fundamentally new approach for a direct formation of electrical connections with gentically-targeted cells.  This approach is accomplished through the convergence of gnome engineering, in situ enzymatic reaction and polymer chemistry.  These genetically-targeted electroes are inherently assembled to the subcellular-specific stem cell-drived human brain organoids.  Importantly, this system also enables the cellular or even subcellular-resolution tuning of local neuronal activity and bridging of brain regions to external devices for the gentically-targeted electrical interrogation.  Finally, I will briefly discuss the prospects for future advances in bioelectronics to overcome challenges in neuroscience and cardiology through the development of "cyborg animals" and "multi-modality electrophysiology" with single-cell and millisecond spatiotemporal resolution, and cell-type specificity.

Bio: Dr. Liu obtained his B.S. in Chemistry from Fudan University in Shanghai, China, in 2009, where his research focused on the development of superparamagnetic nanomaterials for bio-imaging.  He then obtained his Ph.D., along with a short posdoctoral stay with Prof. Charles M. Lieber at Harvard University, where his research focused ont he devlopmet of tissue-like, silicon-based nano-bioelectronics for nanoelectronics-innervated synthetic tissues and syringe-injectable mesh electronics as a bliosis-free and chronically stable brain probe.  Jia is currently supported by Stanford Bio-X Interdiciplinary Seed Grants Program to perform his posdoctoral research on polymeric bioelectronics with Prof. Zhenan Bao at Stanford University since 2015, where he further worked ont he genetically-targeted whole brain-electronic interface with Prof. Karl Deisseroth and fully stretchable bioelectronics for patient-specific cardiac disease diagnosis with Prof. Anson Lee.  His research was recognized as 2015 Top 10 World Changing Ideas by Scientific American and Most Notable Chemistry Research Advances in 2015 by Chemical and Engineering News.