Center for Biodevices expands scope for higher impact

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – Since its inception in 2020, the Center for Biodevices has united Penn State’s interdisciplinary research in engineering, science and medicine, accelerating innovation by creating a dynamic community focusing on the advancement of biodevices across the medical field. Recently named the director of the Center for Biodevices, Scott Medina, the William and Wendy Korb Early Career Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, is expanding the center’s impact beyond medicine to encompass agricultural and environmental applications.

“The vision is to provide a framework in which technologists, clinicians and scientists can all integrate to develop new technologies that solve big problems from all aspects of human health, from managing disease to food resilience and environmental monitoring,” Medina said. “There is tremendous opportunity to translate the devices our faculty are developing for clinical medicine, which has been a core strength of the center, and expanding their use to other areas that affect our health. For example, these technologies can aid in crop management by detecting pests, monitoring plant life and implementing solutions in real-time based on live data collection.”

Medina’s research focuses on nanoscale biodevice design and precision therapeutics. His work interfaces chemical biology, biomaterials and molecular self-assembly to create responsive devices that monitor and manipulate living systems, spanning areas of human health, microbial ecology and plant physiology.

Medina has identified four themes to strategically direct research activities and engagement and guide his overall vision for the center:

• Smart sensors and theranostics: Developing multimodal and multiscale sensing and therapeutic technologies to monitor, manage and manipulate human, animal and plant physiology.
• Advanced materials and biofabrication: Enabling next-generation device capabilities through innovations in materials science and advanced fabrication techniques.
• Bioelectronics and robotics: Integrating electronic and robotic systems with biological structures, including soft materials, self-organizing swarms and adaptive control paradigms.
• Intelligent device systems: Applying artificial intelligence and data analytics to enable autonomous device operation, biocomputing and miniaturized networked systems.

In addition to expanded areas of collaborative research, the center is also focusing on new opportunities for industry engagement with accelerated translation and workforce readiness through transfer initiatives, industry partnerships and capstone project sponsorships. By engaging in hands-on translational experiences, students are empowered to accelerate their impact as they enter the workforce.

“We’re excited to have Scott leading the Center for Biodevices,” said Christina Grozinger, director of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences. “He’s passionate about integrating the material sciences and engineering to address societal challenges and his clear vision for interdisciplinary collaborations will transform human health, agriculture and environmental science.”

Contact Medina to learn more about the Center for Biodevices at shm126@psu.edu.