November 2025
Welcome to the November Edition of the IIB Newsletter!
October was an exciting month for the International Institute for Biosensing (IIB), filled with collaboration and discovery. Highlights included “NanoDay 2025: Small Science, Big Impact,” hosted in partnership with the Minnesota Nano Center—a vibrant event that brought students, researchers, and innovators together to explore the transformative potential of nanoscale science. From hands-on demos to research showcases, NanoDay underscored how small-scale technologies can drive big change in fields from healthcare to environmental sustainability.
As we move into November, IIB continues to grow its global reach through international workshops, equity-centered forums, and expert-led discussions on the latest frontiers in biosensing. This includes the upcoming “Living Earth Twin: Harnessing the Exposome to Reimagine Sustainability,” presented with Biomimetics International, which will examine how data-driven sensing can help us better understand and protect our planet.
We’re proud to build on a fall season of interdisciplinary collaboration—following a summer of engaging panels, new partnerships, and the launch of our YouTube channel. Whether you join us in person or online, we invite you to stay connected with IIB as we advance the future of precision sensing and global innovation.
We’re expanding our reach!
IIB is now sharing news, insights, and stories across multiple platforms. You can now connect with us on:
LinkedIn – for professional updates and collaborations
Instagram /Facebook – for a closer look at our community, research, and impact
Youtube - for the recording of our LectureSeries
Our goal is to make our work more accessible, highlight the people behind the science, and spark conversations that drive innovation in biosensing. Follow us wherever you are and be part of the journey toward shaping the future of health and technology.
CE Credits Now Offered Through IIB & IEEE Collaboration
IIB is proud to announce a new collaboration with IEEE to offer Continuing Education (CE) credits for most of its upcoming Lecture Series. This partnership reflects our shared commitment to advancing professional development and lifelong learning in the biomedical and engineering communities. Participants attending eligible lectures will now have the opportunity to earn CE credits that support their ongoing certification and career growth.
For More info contact IIB
Precision Sensing Credly Badge offered for IIB Lecture Series
IIB is excited to announce that attendees of the IIB Lecture Series can now earn official "Precision Sensing" Credly badges! This digital badge is a recognition of your engagement with cutting-edge research and innovation in biosensing, smart diagnostics, and related fields. Once you've completed 6 hours, your badge will be issued via Credly, a trusted platform for digital credentials. Start collecting hours now — and showcase your expertise in Precision Sensing to your peers, networks, and future collaborators!
For More info contact IIB
Top News Stories -
The News Stories section of the IIB newsletter features recent articles, announcements, and media coverage that spotlight the innovative work, collaborations, and achievements of the Institute for Integrative Biology community. It’s a quick way to stay informed on news that reflects the breadth and impact of our events, research and outreach.
Nano Day was a great success!
The first-ever NanoDay brought together faculty, researchers, students, and industry partners to celebrate innovation at the nanoscale and its growing impact across Minnesota and beyond.
Morning Event:
In the morning the International Institute for Biosensing (IIB) and Minnesota Nanocenter (MNC) celebrated the day by hosting 60 sixth-graders from the Bloomington Public Schools at the Minnesota Nano Center for hands-on nanotechnology activities!
Students rotated through a series of interactive activity stations led by staff from the Minnesota Nano Center, the College of Science and Engineering Youth Programs, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and the Science and Engineering Student Board. The activities were designed to spark curiosity and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers.
Afternoon Event:
The event session, hosted by the IIB and MNC), showcased groundbreaking work in nanofabrication, semiconductor technologies, and sensing applications, highlighting how interdisciplinary collaboration drives real-world progress in health, energy, computing, and advanced materials.
The day concluded with closing remarks from Shashank Priya, Vice President for Research and Innovation, University of Minnesota, who emphasized the importance of partnerships between research centers, faculty, and industry in advancing discovery and innovation. This was followed by remarks by Sara Swisher, Director of MNCr and Patricia Khashayar, Director of IIB.
Read more about the event and check the recording link
Upcoming Events
Join us for insightful seminars that delve into the world of biosensing and its foundational principles as well as its wide-ranging applications.
Living Earth Twin: Harnessing the Exposome to Reimagine Sustainability
When: November 5, 2025, 8:30 - 5 pm
Where: MISSISSIPPI Room, Twin Cities Campus
We are excited to announce that the International Institute for Biosensing (IIB) is to host a special session on “Living Earth Twin: Harnessing the Exposome to Reimagine Sustainability” as part of the BiosVerse™ Week (Nov 2–5, 2025) hosted by Biomimetics International.
This session will bring together leading experts, innovators, and changemakers from across disciplines to exchange ideas, identify challenges, and explore collaborations aimed at defining what it truly means to build a resilient system through the lens of exposomics and biosensing.
Resilience requires looking beyond human health alone. It calls for recognizing the interconnected well-being of humans, animals, nature, and even non-living systems—and for integrating diverse populations, viewpoints and data sources to create a complete picture.
Your perspective is essential. By joining, you will help shape how resilience is defined, explore methods for integrating multiple perspectives, and contribute to building pathways toward a healthier, more sustainable future. This meeting will be the starting point of consortium formation for an upcoming grant.
Attendance for this session is free. Please note that participation in other BiosVerse™ Week events requires registration through their official website. The latest agenda could be found here.
Speaker SpotLight for Living Earth Twin: Harnessing the Exposome to Reimagine Sustainability
Talk Title: From Snow Globe to Living Earth Twin: Reimagining Resilience Through Exposomics
Patricia Khashayar Director
International Institute for Biosensing at the University of Minnesota.
Panel Title: Resilience from the Ground Up: Community Voices in the Living Earth Twin
Moderator:
Laurie Van Egeren, Vice Provost for Public Engagement at University of Minnesota
Panel Members:
Karen Diver, Senior Advisor to the President for Native American Affairs
Apolinário-Wilcoxon, Principal Consultant and Owner Equity Strategies, LLC
Niema Ismael, Founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Wellness & Parenting Support Center (WWPSC)
Billy Lor, a Cultural Consultant, Educator, and recognized Hmong shaman)
Panel Title: From Data to Impact: Industry Perspectives on Biosensors and Exposomics
Moderator:
Galin Jones, Director of the School of Statistics, and Chair of the UMN Data Science and AI Hub.
Panel Members:
Christopher Campbell CEO Simplifi Automation
Mark Ritchie Founding board member and President of the Food, Agriculture, and Water Division at Graphene Valley Corporation
Julia Silvis Managing Director, Research & Intelligence, Greater MSP
Cara Santelli, Leader NSF Convergence Accelerator to Develop Water Quality Sensor Platform Enabled by AI
Talk Title: Planetary Health: Connecting the Dots for a Better Future
Teddie Potter Director, Center for Planetary Health and Environmental Justice & Clinical Professor, School of Nursing at the University of Minnesota.
Talk Title:The Economics of Resilience: Integrating Circular Thinking into the Living Earth Twin
Justin Johnson Assistant Professor, Department of Applied Economics at University of Minnesota
NetEthics: Developing Tools for Research Networks to Support Ethical & Responsible Research
When: November 14, 2025, 9:00 -4:00 pm
Where: Online
Research projects increasingly involve multidisciplinary teams networked across multiple universities and other institutions. However, current research ethics and tools offer little guidance to the leaders of complex research networks, who regularly face difficult issues such as how to reconcile conflicting ethical approaches across the network, ensure ethical and respectful laboratory leadership and mentoring, create network-wide processes for resolving disputes, and build a positive network culture. Presented by Consortium on Law and Values in Health, Environment & the Life Sciences; ATP-Bio; and NetEthics, this conference will bring together national leaders from a range of disciplines to address the challenges facing research networks, consider NetEthics tools, and offer new strategies to help complex research networks to conduct their work ethically and responsibly.
18th Annual Earl E. Bakken Symposium: Thoracic Organ Transplantation and Preservation Technologies
When: November 14, 2025, 8:00 -5:00 pm
Where: Online
The IIB Precision Sensing Distinguished Lecture Series is designed to foster discussion on novel topics, innovative solutions and grand challenges in the field of Precision Sensing. These lectures are a fantastic opportunity to share insights, engage in meaningful discussions, and connect with fellow professionals in the field. If you have missed the previous talks please visit IIB Youtube Channel.
Ethics of Robotics in Healthcare with Special Consideration for Women
When: November 10th, 2025 at 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM
Where: Walter Library
Professor Catherine McCarty, Associate Dean for Research at the Medical School, Duluth campus, University of Minnesota. Professor McCarty started her research career as the Head of the Epidemiology Research Unit at the University of Melbourne. During her eight years in this position, she led population-based studies of vision impairment in Australia, India, and Hong Kong. Upon returning to the US, Professor McCarty was the Principal Investigator for the Marshfield Clinic Personalized Medicine Research Project and conducted research in the areas of genetic epidemiology, pharmacogenetics, and community engagement related to biobanking. Professor McCarty currently conducts mixed-methods research in bioethics and rural health.
Call for Papers
Design of Medical Devices Conference 2026
Submit by Dec. 1, 11:59 PM CT
DMD Conference committee will be accepting original papers that demonstrate new technologies and applications in the field of medical device design. Submissions from academic and industry researchers, clinicians and practitioners are encouraged.
Learning Resources
Discover valuable learning resources to enhance your knowledge and skills with tools, courses, and materials to support your growth.
Advanced Cardiac Course: Physiology and Anatomy
The Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology (IBP) is offering Advanced Cardiac Physiology and Anatomy (PHSL 5510), a week-long intensive course (January 5-9, 2026). It enrolls students from the University of Minnesota and from biomedical engineering companies in the metro and surrounding areas. The course will be offered for no credit to non-students, or for 2 or 3 credits to University students (3 credits requires added research project). The class will meet from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM for one week: lectures, small group discussions, demonstrations and participation in a human gross anatomy laboratory will be included. There will be a keynote lecture after class on Monday evening.