Bioelectrochemical systems combine biological and electrochemical processes to engineer sensors, novel sustainable catalysts and/or treat wastewater. By interfacing microorganisms, enzymes or plants with electrochemical methods/ materials novel technologies are introduced, aiming at improving the reducing or oxidizing metabolism. Research in this area focuses on the selection and design of novel (sustainable) electrode materials, the design of the electrochemical setup (including microfluidics for on chip integration) and subsequently the screening of electrochemically active or inactive model compounds/microorganisms. This symposium thus covers state-of-the-art technologies and fundamental studies related to electron transfer (efflux and consumption) for applications ranging from sensing and catalysis to wastewater treatment. We welcome abstracts/studies spanning from materials science and engineering to fundamental understanding of processes aiming to provide a holistic view/understanding of this emerging field.
- Microbial/ cell-based electrochemical systems
- On-chip enzymatic assays
- Engineering biotic-abiotic interfaces
- Self-powered biosensors
- Sustainable electrode materials for catalysis
- Photo-bioelectrocatalysts
- Enzymatic biosensors
- Sustainable electrodes and materials
- Organic electronics for biocatalysis
- 2D materials for biocatalysis
Anna-Maria Pappa is currently Asst Professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Khalifa University and Visiting scholar at Cambridge University. She holds a PhD in Bioelectronics from the University of Lyon (2017). Prior to her appointment in KU she was the Oppenheimer research fellow at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at Cambridge University and the Maudslay-Butler Research Fellow in Engineering at Pembroke College, Cambridge. In 2017 she received the L’Oreal-UNESCO Women in Science award for developing an innovative platform that can be used to test the efficacy of newly synthesized antibiotics and in 2019 she was listed on the Innovators under 35 MIT technology review. Anna-Maria is an SPIE and MRS member as well as a Maudslay Society member. She is also affiliated with Pembroke College, Cambridge. She is an editor in Frontiers in Electronics, Scientific Reports and Biosensors, Mdpi. During her independent career she has served as Visiting Scholar in Cornell University (USA) and in the Institure of laser processes in FORTH Crete, Greece. In KU Anna-Maria is a member of the Healthcare Engineering Innovation Center, leading a team in biomicrofluidics and biosensors. Her current research interests lie in bio-integrated electronics, using polymeric semiconductors and synthetic biology to develop hierarchically organized biological models for point-of-care sensors. She has (co)authored more than 40 peer-reviewed articles, 3 book chapters, and has 1 full patent. She has delivered more than 32 presentations in international conferences (12 invited ones) and has given 10 seminars in leading Universities. Other professional activities include: expert evaluator of projects for EU-ERC, organization/chairing conferences (i.e., MRS Spring 2021), ad-hoc university committees and journal reviewing (RSC, ACS, Wiley) .
Prof. Kyriaki Polychronopoulou is currently a Full Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Khalifa University, and Visiting Professor at ETH-Zurich. She is also the Founding Director of the Catalysis and Separation Center (CeCaS) at KU, the first of its kind in the United Arab Emirates. CeCaS is actively supporting the vision of the UAE towards alterative fuels (hydrogen, biofuels), decarbonization though CO2 conversion to useful fuels and hydrocarbon exploitation. She is regular member of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Academy of Scientists (MBRAS, https://mbras.ae).
She holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Cyprus (2005). Before her appointment at Khalifa University she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University (IL, USA) and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (IL, USA). During her independent career, she has also worked as a Research Fellow in the National Physical Laboratory (UK), Texas A&M (USA), and KAIST (Korea).
Dr. Polychronopoulou's research contribution is focused on experimental and computational catalysis both from fundamental and applied perspective. She focuses her research on unlocking the reaction mechanisms and understanding of surface phenomena and their association with catalytic material microstructure. Processes of primary focus are: hydrogen (H2) production, CO2 conversion, biofuels production.
Susan Daniel is the Fred H. Rhodes Professor of Chemical Engineering and the William C. Hooey Director of the Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University. Her research team strives to understand phenomena at biological interfaces and chemically patterned surfaces that interact with soft matter – liquids; polymers; and biological materials, like cells, viruses, proteins, and lipids. Her team pioneered “biomembrane chips” to conduct cell-free, biophysical studies of mammalian, bacterial, and plant cell membranes, and recently merged this technology with organic electronic devices for expanded sensing capabilities.
Onur Parlak earned his PhD in Bioelectronics from Linköping University in 2015. He then received a Fellowship from The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (KAW) and started postdoctoral research at Stanford University, focusing on wearable bioelectronics. After spending three years, he turned back to Sweden and joined the Karolinska Institutet to translate his engineering skills into medical settings with KAW starting grant.
He has been recently awarded by KI Strategic Funding as an Assistant Professor and research group leader as a part of the KI investment program to recruit and support leading junior researchers with particularly outstanding scientific merits and future potential. Since 2021, Dr. Parlak has been acting as Assistant Professor at the Department of Medicine, Solna, Dermataology and Venereology Unit in Karolinska Institutet where he specializes in personalized diagnostics and wearable bioelectronics.
Eleni Stavrinidou is an Associate Professor and leader of the Electronic Plants group at Linköping University. She received a PhD in Microelectronics from EMSE (France) in 2014. She then did her postdoctoral training at Linköping University (Sweden) during which she was awarded a Marie Curie fellowship. In 2017 Eleni Stavrinidou became Assistant Professor in Organic Electronics at Linköping University and established the Electronic Plants group. She received several grants including a Swedish Research Council Starting Grant and she is the Coordinator of the HyPhOE-FET-OPEN project. In 2019 she received the L’ORÉAL-UNESCO For Women in Science prize in Sweden. In 2020 she became Associate Professor and Docent in Applied Physics. The same year she was awarded the Future Research Leaders grant of the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research. Her research interests focus on organic electronics for plant monitoring and optimization, energy applications and bio-hybrid systems.