The Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) is pleased to present a Distinguished Lecture by Arben Merkoçi, ICREA Research Professor, Head of Nanobioelectronics & Biosensors Group, Institut Català de Nanociència i Nanotecnologia.
Please join us on Tuesday, May 12, at 11:00 a.m. to hear Arben Merkoçi's lecture titled "Coupling Nanomaterials with Sustainable Platforms for Next-Generation Point-of-Care Nanobiosensors."
Where: QNC 1501
When: Tuesday, May 12, 2026 | 11:-00 am.
About the lecture
The convergence of nanotechnology and biosensing has fundamentally reshaped approaches to diagnostics, environmental surveillance, and personalized healthcare. Since the emergence of nanobiosensors in the scientific literature in the late 1990s and early 2000s, remarkable advances have been achieved; however, the field is now approaching a critical inflection point. Beyond performance-driven innovation, there is an urgent need to rethink how nanobiosensors are designed, fabricated, and deployed to ensure they are truly impactful, sustainable, ubiquitous, and accessible to society. The future of point-of-care nanobiosensors lies in coupling advanced nanomaterials with sustainable, scalable platforms. Paper-based substrates and eco-conscious fabrication technologies such as inkjet printing and stamping enable low-cost, decentralized, and ubiquitous manufacturing, supporting the democratization of diagnostics—particularly in global health emergencies, resource-limited settings, environmental crises, and wearable healthcare applications. High-performance recognition elements—including DNA nanostructures, aptamers, antibodies, and other tailored molecular receptors—are integrated with metallic nanoparticles, quantum dots, and two-dimensional materials such as graphene to achieve sensitive, selective, and robust detection. Device design follows the REASSURED principles: Real-time connectivity, Ease of specimen collection, Affordable, Sensitive, Specific, User-friendly, Rapid and robust, Equipment-free or minimal equipment, and deliverable to end users, ensuring functionality in real-world environments. Applications span cancer diagnostics, viral infections, neurodegenerative diseases, and water quality monitoring. Readout strategies range from naked-eye detection to smartphone-integrated platforms, illustrating a future in which advanced diagnostics become ubiquitous, seamlessly embedded in everyday life rather than confined to specialized laboratories.
About the speaker
ICREA Research Professor and leader of the ICN2 Nanobioelectronics and Biosensors Group, Arben Merkoçi obtained his PhD at the University of Tirana (Albania) working with in ion selective electrodes. Since 1992 he has carried out research as postdoctoral fellow and research professor at the Polytechnic University of Budapest (Hungary), University of Ioannina (Greece), Università degli Studi di Padova (Italy), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and New Mexico State University (USA). His research is focused on the integration of biological molecules and other species with micro- and nanostructures to design novel (bio)sensors. Prof. Arben Merkoçi is member of the Academy of Sciences of Albania and director and coordinator of NANOBALKAN (www.nanobalkan.al), the Regional Center of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. He is member of the European Academy of Sciences (EURASC, 2024), Member of Institute of Catalan Studies and Academy of Sciences of Bologna Institute. Prof. Merkoçi has been Member of the ALLEA Working Group on the European Research Area and Chair of the ERA’s Working Group of the European Federation of Academies of Sciences. He is Member of Advisory Council of Research Expertise from the Academic Diaspora (READ), founded in 2021 by the Albanian-American Development Foundation. He has been member of The Accreditation Board of Quality Assurance Agency in Higher Education of Albania during 4 years. He is Co-Editor in Chief of Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Elsevier journal, the most important international journal in biosensors. Also, he is member of W&T3 Project panel on Condensed Matter of Research Foundation Flanders (FWO, Belgium, 2024); of FIS 2 Selection Committee - sector PE4 (Ministero dell’Università e della Ricerca”, Italy, 2024); of the ERC Starting Grant Call 2021-2024 (EU Commission, Brussels); of the External Scientific Advisory Committee of The Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC, Barcelona, Spain, 2022-now); of the Scientific Board of Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials (RCPTM/CATRIN Olomouc, Check Republic, acting every year since 2018 to now) Prof. Merkoçi has published 375 scientific articles and supervised 38 PhD theses. He is also involved in teaching PhD courses in the field of nanomaterial- based biosensors in several Spanish and international centres. He has been a member of the commission for establishing the new Nanoscience and Nanotechnology undergraduate academic curriculum at the UAB, the first one in Spain, which started during the academic year 2010- 2011. He is a member of the Academics Working Group of BIST and coordinator of the Nanodiagnostics module of the Nanotechnology Master at the UAB. He has got several national and international grants related to nanomaterials application in biosensors and his group is collaborating with several worldwide leading labs in the field of nanobiosensors. Prof. Merkoçi serves also as scientific evaluator and member of panels of experts of various international governmental and nongovernmental agencies (EU-FP and EU-ERC panels and other panels in Europe, USA and other countries), as a scientific committee member of many international congresses, director of several workshops and other scientific events and have been invited to give plenary lectures, keynote and invited speeches in more than 250 occasions in various countries. Prof. Merkoçi is the co-founder of two spin-off companies: GraphenicaLab, devoted to graphene patterning, and PaperDiagnostis, dedicated to clinical diagnostics.