Programme

Prof. Metin Sitti, Koç University, Turkey

Abstract: Wireless small-scale medical robots have the unique capability of navigating, operating and staying inside hard-to-reach, tight, risky and deep sites inside our body. This talk reports our recent milli- and microscale wireless miniature medical robots down to cell size that could achieve various minimally invasive medical functions, such as targeted active drug delivery, neural stimulation, clot opening, liquid biopsy, biofluid pumping, cauterization, and hyperthermia. Due to miniaturization limitations on on-board actuation, powering, sensing, computing and communication, new materials and methods need to be introduced in creating and controlling such robots. Moreover, they need to be tracked under medical imaging modalities, such as ultrasound, fluoroscopy, photoacoustic imaging, and MRI, for their precise and safe operation. 3D microprinting and assembly-based fabrication methods and biocompatible and multifunctional soft composites with embedded micro/nanomaterials are proposed to create novel medical milli/microrobots. Soft-bodied medical miniature robot designs enable active shape programming-based adaptive, multimodal and multifunctional navigation and functions, and safe operation. External physical forces, such as magnetic fields, acoustic waves and light, and physical or chemical (e.g., catalytic) interactions with the operation medium are used to actuate and steer such miniature robots wirelessly as a single robot or robot collectives. These robots are aimed to save lives of more patients by curing diseases not possible or hard to cure and decrease the side effects and invasiveness of disease treatments drastically.

Bio: Prof. Dr. Metin Sitti is the President and Professor of Koç University in Istanbul, Turkey since fall 2023. Formerly, he was a Director of the Physical Intelligence Department at Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Germany (2014-2023), Professor at ETH Zurich, Switzerland (2020-2024), Professor at Carnegie Mellon University, USA (2002-2014), and Research Scientist at UC Berkeley, USA (1999-2002). He received his BSc (1992) and MSc (1994) degrees from Boğaziçi University, Turkey, and PhD degree from University of Tokyo, Japan (1999). His research interests include wireless medical devices, small-scale mobile robots, bioinspiration, and physical intelligence. He is a member of National Academy of Engineering in USA, Academy Europea, and Max Planck Society (2014-2023). He received the Highly Cited Researcher recognition (2021-2024), Frontiers of Science Award (2025), Materials Science Leader Award (2023-2025), Breakthrough of the Year Award in the Falling Walls World Science Summit (2020), ERC Advanced Grant (2019), Rahmi Koç Science Medal (2018), SPIE Nanoengineering Pioneer Award (2011), and NSF CAREER Award (2005). He has supervised and mentored over 70 (18 current) PhD students and 80 (10 current) postdocs, where over 65 of his group alumni are professors around the world. He has published 2 books and over 420 journal articles and has over 30 patents. He founded Setex Technologies Inc. to commercialize his lab’s gecko-inspired microfiber adhesive technology. He is the editor-in-chief of Journal of Micro-Bio Robotics journal and associate editor in Science Advances journal.

Prof. Yuval Elani, Imperial College London, UK

Abstract: Synthetic cells (SynCells) are bio‑inspired micromachines built from molecular components, designed to mimic the form and function of living cells. They are emerging as powerful tools—both as simplified models for understanding biology and as programmable microdevices with exciting potential in industrial and clinical biotechnology.

Yet despite their promise, today’s SynCells remain behaviourally limited. This is largely because they lack robust mechanisms for communication within a cell (between compartments) and between cells (with neighbouring synthetic or living cells). Without these communication pathways, SynCells cannot exhibit the rich, emergent behaviours characteristic of natural cellular communities.

In this talk, I will describe our recent efforts to overcome these barriers. We employ microfluidic assembly lines to build SynCells with diverse architectures and finely tuned communication channels—both intercellular and intracellular. These advances allow us to engineer a new generation of SynCells with biomimetic, stimulus‑responsive behaviours. For example, we create synthetic cells that detect external cues such as temperature, light, and magnetic fields, and initiate controlled biochemical responses. We also engineer SynCells capable of quorum sensing, enabling collective decision‑making. Together, these developments bring us closer to synthetic cellular systems capable of cooperation, coordination, and emergent function.

Bio: Prof. Yuval Elani is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and Reader (Associate Professor) in Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London. He previously held EPSRC and Imperial Research Fellowships in Chemistry at Imperial and studied Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He is a leading expert in synthetic cells, microfluidics, BioHybrids, synthetic biology, lipid nanoparticle design, and membrane engineering. Since earning his PhD in 2015, he has secured numerous large-scale grants to conduct both frontier and applied research in these areas and has developed a broad portfolio of collaborations with clinicians and industry (Syngenta, GSK, P&G, AstraZeneca, Neobe). He has won multiple prizes and medals for his research breakthroughs, including the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee Roscoe Medal, Rita & John Cornforth Medal, Felix Franks Medal for Biotechnology, IChemE Nicklin Medal, and the RSC Harrison-Meldola Memorial Prize. His work has been recognised by the World Economic Forum, which selected him to be part of their Young Scientist Community (50 under 40 worldwide) as well as by the Lister Institute for Preventive Medicine, where he is a Fellow. He is co-director of the Membrane Biophysics Platform and co-founder and member of the executive of fabriCELL.

Prof. Yansha Deng, King’s College London, UK Online

Abstract: Molecular communication (MC) is an emerging interdisciplinary field that explores the exchange of information using chemical molecules, mimicking the communication processes found in biological systems. MC research holds immense potential in emerging applications, such as medicine and biosensing, where traditional electromagnetic-based communications would be either unsafe or impractical. While MC theory has had major developments in recent years, more practical aspects in designing components capable of MC functionalities remain less explored. In this talk, we present recent advances in the design, analysis, and prototyping of signal processing circuits tailored for MC systems. We explore two complementary approaches: microfluidic circuits based on chemical reactions and synthetic biology circuits employing engineered genetic networks. We demonstrate modular microfluidic architectures capable of implementing fundamental communication functions such as modulation and demodulation. We also introduce the experimental Microfluidic Molecular Communication (MIMIC) platform, which enables real-time processing, long-distance transmission, and adaptive communication via chemical reactions. Furthermore, we showcase a genetically engineered multicellular system that realizes concentration shift keying through spatially distributed logic gates. Together, these experimental platforms lay the groundwork for future intelligent biological systems and scalable molecular networks.

Bio: Dr Yansha Deng is a Professor in the Department of Engineering at King’s College London, London, United Kingdom since 2025. She received her Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Queen Mary University of London, U.K., in 2015. From 2015 to 2017, she was a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with King’s College London, U.K. She has secured more than £4 million of research funding as the principal investigator and has received the ERC Starting Grant and EPSRC NIA award. She has published 120+ journal papers and 60+ IEEE/ACM conference papers. Her research interests include molecular communication and machine learning for 5G/6G wireless networks. She was a recipient of the Best Paper Awards from ICC 2016 and GLOBECOM 2017 as the first author, and the IEEE Communications Society Best Young Researcher Award for the Europe, Middle East, and Africa Region 2021. She has been the Senior Editor of IEEE Communications Letters since 2020, the Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Communications since 2017, the Associate Editor of IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials since 2022, the Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Machine Learning in Communications and Networking since 2022, the Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological and Multi-scale Communications since 2019, the Associate Editor of IEEE Open Journal of Communications Society since 2019 and the Vertical Area Editor of IEEE Internet of Things Magazine since 2021.

Prof. Andreani Odysseos, EPOS-Iasis, Cyprus

Abstract: Molecular Communications (MC) are evolving as a supradiscipline of bioinspired Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The next breakthroughs in Molecular Communication will greatly depend on the deep understanding of complex diseases, epitomized by brain pathologies. This can be achieved by delineating underlying cellular and sub-cellular processes in the context of interactive bionanomachines and their comprehensive management with controllable diagnostic and therapeutic interventions. Disciplines highly sought in the search of bionanomachines performing inter- or intracellular communication and interfaces between internal and external environments, span across ICT and Wireless Communication, enabling Outmessages and Inmessages; Synthetic Biology & Genetic Engineering supported by Microfluidics, generating biosensors, bioamplifiers and therapeutic cells; Electronics Engineering & Nanotechnology supporting miniaturized wearable and implantable devices as actuators and detectors, integrated via controllers by means of AI with Deep and Machine Learning.

Translation of MC theoretical models to (pre)clinically applicable technologies require customised test-beds and advanced validation systems, pre-defining and analysing molecular signal metrics. Disease diagnostics and therapeutics are greatly dependent on biomarker detection and quantification, driven by spatiotemporal disease evolution and underlying molecular pathways enabled by spatial transcriptomics and/or proteomics technologies, defining suitable bio-nanomachines and nanonetworks. Layered architectures can be translated to multi-layer disease models merging tissue engineering and biology for robust interrogation of contextual drug efficacy. As a major prerequisite remains the building of a highly biomimetic and robust MC environment. Environmental cues present in spatially graded doses orchestrated in chemotaxis, topotaxis, haptotaxis or durotaxis systems define the requirements for models recapitulating the 3-dimensional topographic complexity across multiple scales of size and organization. Ultimately, achieving reproducible interfaces in the living animal with the implementation of adhesive molecules in sustained systems of optically active biomolecules also eliciting reproducible and quantifiable signals, paves the way to next generation MC with high potential for clinical applicability.

Bio: Andreani D. Odysseos, Medical and Molecular Oncologist, a member of the Harvard Club of Cyprus and co-founder and Research Director of EPOS-Iasis, R&D, leads revolutionary translational research in nano-biotechnology, Externally Controllable Molecular Communications for Sensing and Therapy for Cancer and Brain Pathologies, including wearable and implantable theranostic devices. Her current research crosses the boundaries of clinically applicable Digital Twins and the Internet of BioThings. She is a Graduate of Athens University Medical School with graduate as well as research and clinical post-doctoral studies at Dana–Farber Cancer Institute and Fred-Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; as 1st Prize recipient of CyEC under a special Academic position at the University of Cyprus she established a vibrant Innovative SME for Cell Therapies and Hybrid Nano-theranostics. Dr Odysseos has attracted funding amassing €~8.0 M, including MSCAs, IMI, R&I Actions and three most prestigious EIC Pathfinder Grants. Her findings in Optical Biosensing Interfaces and Targeted Nano-therapeutics are secured in 8 patents (5US, 2EPO, 1WIPO) and are published in peer-reviewed papers, book chapters and monographs. Her work integrating biomedical sciences, biomedical engineering and artificial intelligence and her contribution to clinically applicable emerging technologies has been acknowledged with an honorary membership by the International Academy for Medical Education (IAMED).

Prof. Levent Beker, Koç University, Turkey

Abstract: Wearable devices that can continuously read the body’s signals promise to reshape how we detect and manage disease. In this talk, I will present two sensing approaches developed in our lab. First, I will describe microneedle-based devices that penetrate the skin to access interstitial fluid and track clinically relevant biomarkers in real time. I will then discuss wearable ultrasound platforms designed for continuous, cuff-free blood pressure monitoring and non-invasive bladder volume assessment. For each platform, I will share our fabrication strategy and results from human studies.

Bio: Levent Beker is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Koç University, where he directs the Bio-Integrated Microdevices Lab (BMDL). He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley (2017) and completed postdoctoral training in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University (2017–2019). His awards include an ERC Starting Grant, an ERC Proof of Concept Grant, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) Fellowship, and a TÜBİTAK 2232 Fellowship. His research spans wearable and implantable medical devices, MEMS-based transducers, flexible electronics, and biosensors.