SMART Biosensors: A New Modality to Objectively Quantify Pain
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Omowunmi “Wunmi” Sadik, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Dr. Sadik is a Distinguished Professor and Chair in the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences at the New Jersey Institutes of Technology (NJIT). Until recently, Sadik was a Professor of Chemistry and Director of the Center for Research in Advanced Sensing Technologies & Environmental Sustainability at SUNY-Binghamton. She has held appointments at Harvard University, Cornell University, and the Naval Research Laboratory. Her research areas are in surface chemistry, chemical and biosensors, and in their application to solving real-life problems in biological systems, energy, and the environment. Sadik holds five U.S. patents for her work on biosensors and nanostructured membranes. She has developed biosensors for use as new diagnostic tools and detection devices in a variety of clinical, environmental, energy, and food safety settings. Her group focuses on the understanding of interfaces, in particular, electrochemical interface, and how to use this knowledge in the pursuit of innovative bio (analytical) sensing technologies for improving human health and the environment. She has led her team in translating basic research in biosensors to a portable, fully autonomous, and remotely operated sensing device known as an Ultra-Sensitive Portable Capillary Sensor, or U-PAC. Sadik has published over 180 peer-reviewed works and has given over 400 invited lectures and conference contributions worldwide. Sadik is a Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (2018), the UK’s Royal Society of Chemistry (2010), and the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (2012). Her notable career highlights include receiving the Australian Merit Scholar Award (1991), the National Academy of Sciences Collaboration in Basic Science & Engineering Fellowship (2000), the SUNY Research Foundation’s Award for Outstanding Inventor (2002), Harvard University’s Radcliffe Fellowship (2003), the National Science Foundation’s Discovery Corps Senior Fellowship (2005) and the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Research (2011).
Summary
Conventional methods of assessing pain are mostly subjective, and the challenge of objectively quantifying the problem is a daunting task. As pain levels increase, so do the amount and variety of pain killers required to manage pain successfully. Dr. Sadik’s current research focuses on creative new kinds of biosensors to objectively detect and quantify pain biomarkers. Her lab has developed novel multidimensional biosensors that have been tested in more than a thousand patients. This will be the focus of her talk.
This page was last updated on Thursday, May 19, 2022