Onur Parlak
Professor - Karolinska Institute
Onur Parlak earned his PhD in Bioelectronics from Linköping University in 2015. He then joined Stanford University for postdoctoral research focusing on wearable bioelectronics. During his postdoctoral research, he developed epidermal diagnostic device that can track cortisol dynamics in human perspiration. This finding fundamentally changed how the field thought about hormone monitoring and opened the possibility for cortisol tracking, with applications ranging from dermatology to neuroscience.
In 2021, he was awarded as an Assistant Professor as a part of the KI investment program to recruit and support leading junior researchers with particularly outstanding scientific merits and future. Since June 2021, Dr. Parlak has been acting as an Assistant Professor and running his own research lab at the Dermatology Division in Karolinska Institute where he specializes in developing in vivo and in vitro medical sensors, bioelectronic devices, and their applications in the area of personalized medicine and medical diagnostics.
Presentation
Epidermal Bioelectronics for Diagnostics and Therapy
Epidermal bioelectronics, consisting of thin, soft electronic systems that are interfaced with the human skin, has started to transform traditional healthcare. Hundreds of early versions of sensors, actuators and transmitters integrated into patches or bandages are deployed in various medical conditions, and their number is ever-growing. Among many devices, epidermal biosensors are at the center of this effort and offer a huge potential to revolutionize conventional healthcare that involves a physical examination and biochemical analysis to assess overall health and detect abnormalities.
In our lab, we develop translational approaches to eliminate the biological and mechanical mismatch between conventional, rigid, static diagnostic technologies and human skin by integrating soft, complex and multifunctional electronics and microfluidic systems for medical diagnostics and therapy.
Here, in brief, albeit comprehensive I would like to describe the key ideas and presents some of the most recent device examples developed in our lab, including wireless, battery-free electronic 'patches' with applications in continuous monitoring of vital signs through human skin for dermatological, neurological applications; and microfluidic/electronic platforms that can capture key biomarkers including hormones, neurotransmitters, cytokines and various metabolites and microorganisms through human skin.
At the Division of Dermatology and Venereology we study basic and clinical aspects of skin disease and physiology with the goal of developing novel treatments as well as teach the next generation of clinicians and scientists.
At the Division of Dermatology and Venereology several types of research are conducted. The laboratory-based research uses biological samples from patients for novel medical sensing and diagnostics as well as many different in vitro and in vivo models to study wound healing, atopic dermatitis and psoriasis, as well as rare skin diseases and skin manifestations of other diseases, on the molecular level.
The clinical research uses local and national patient registries to study dermatological conditions such as atopic dermatitis, urticaria, bullous skin disorders and psoriasis as well as participate in investigator- and industry-sponsored clinical trials through the Karolinska Translational Dermatology (KTD) and in close collaboration with the dermato-venereology department at Karolinska University Hospital.