In collaboration with scientists and clinicians, Wubin Bai uses his expertise in materials science to develop next-generation medical devices.
Robots that mimic human skin. A wearable patch for wireless drug delivery. A device that can communicate with 3D cell structures called organoids.
These sound like something from a science-fiction novel, but they are the real projects of Wubin Bai. As a professor of applied physical sciences at UNC-Chapel Hill, Bai works with soft and nanomaterials to create next-generation medical devices.
Soft materials are “anything we can deform with our hands,” he says. These include foams, gels, liquids, plastics, and biological materials like organs and cells. Nanomaterials are teeny-tiny particles less than 100 nanometers in size. Cell components, DNA, and proteins are nanomaterials.
Bai’s lab specializes in combining artificial and biological materials to create new medical devices needed by the health care field. But his background in physics and materials science is just one part of the equation. He often needs the expertise of clinicians, biologists, and other scientists to create these innovations.
“I want to understand the challenges that exist in health care and biology,” he says. “These enormous fields are a goldmine for us to explore.”
Dr. Bai and his collaborator Dr. Stein received an AGILE grant from the Institute for Convergent Science (ICS) to develop sensors compatible with brain organoids. Their sensor technology uses soft, flexible materials that can cradle brain organoids and sense activity across their 3-D structure. Successful deployment of this technology will help accelerate research into human brain disorders like epilepsy. As part of Innovate Carolina, ICS is a catalyst for commercialization and innovation ecosystem-building for Carolina faculty and emerging academic innovators.
| UNC-CH
