CBE Seminar - Govind Rao

Professor, Chemical & Biochemical Engineering; Director, Center for Advanced Sensor Technology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

Disruptive Innovation for the Coming Healthcare Revolution

Abstract

Advances in key industries like computers, automobiles, and telecommunication have not been matched by the healthcare industry. This is because in addition to regulatory hurdles, science has moved slowly from the bench to the bedside.  We will show several case studies that illustrate out-of-the-box approaches to address these shortcomings. We demonstrate novel disruptive approaches that put the possibility of high technology yet affordable healthcare within reach. In one instance we show how an entire pharmaceutical plant can be replaced with a suitcase size device to produce therapeutic proteins on demand. In another, we demonstrate how state-of-the-art biomedical analysis for blood glucose and blood gases can be done completely non-invasively. These same technologies can be applied to bioreactor monitoring to make single-use systems smarter and easier to use. Finally, we show approaches that can bring quality healthcare for the majority of the world’s population that lives with little or no access to basic care.

 

Bio
Govind Rao is Professor of Chemical & Biochemical Engineering at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.  He obtained his Bachelor of Technology degree in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras in 1984.  His Ph.D. degree was obtained from Drexel University in Chemical Engineering in 1987.  He has been a faculty member at UMBC since 1987 and has served as Department Chair from 2000-2006. In 2006, he founded the Center for Advanced Sensor Technology (CAST) and has been serving as its Director since its inception.

Dr. Rao’s research is targeted towards disruptive innovation, where the goal is to create paradigm shifts in the state-of-the-art. He has focused on applications of fluorescence spectroscopy to create novel low-cost sensors for bioprocess, biomedical and environmental applications. His lab has developed next-generation sensors for low-cost non-invasive monitoring of oxygen, pH and pCO2 in bioreactors. In addition, novel sensors for glucose and glutamine have been developed. These sensors have led to a paradigm shift in bioprocess technology, as they collectively enable high throughput bioprocessing and are ideal for single use.  Recently, the Rao lab has developed non-invasive sensor technology for neonatal monitoring. The current focus in the CAST is a major effort to develop next generation bio-manufacturing technology and is aimed at producing protein-based therapeutics at the point-of-care. A major effort at CAST is the application of sensor technology to reduce healthcare costs and close disparity gaps by making innovative low-cost devices for use in low-resource settings. As part of this strategy, technology transfer and partnerships have been set up with entities in low-resource settings.  He has published over 160 papers in professional journals. His funding has come from several diverse sources including NSF, NIH, JDRF, DARPA, FDA, ONR and from several companies.

He has received several awards.  These include the Presidential Young Investigator Award from the National Science Foundation, Outstanding Teaching and Research Awards from UMBC, the Van Lanen Award from the American Chemical Society, the Gaden Award from Biotechnology & Bioengineering, the University System of Maryland Regents Award for Excellence in Research and he has been named a 2003 Innovator of the Year by the Maryland Daily Record. Dr. Rao has several patents, many of which have been licensed. Dr. Rao has served as the Chair of the Biotechnology Division of the American Chemical Society and on the Editorial Board of several prominent journals. In 2007, he was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2009, he was named as Editor of the PDA Journal of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology. In 2015 he received a “50 bright ideas” award from UMBC for the number of inventions filed and named an Eminent Engineer by Tau Beta Pi.