Professor Dame Molly Stevens DBE FRS FREng FMedSci is John Black Professor of Bionanoscience at the University of Oxford and also holds part-time professorships at Imperial College London and the Karolinska Institute.

Professor Stevens’ multidisciplinary research balances the investigation of fundamental science with the development of technology to address some of the major healthcare challenges. She is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of several companies in the diagnostics, advanced therapeutics and regenerative medicine space. Her work has been instrumental in elucidating the bio-material interfaces. She has created a broad portfolio of designer biomaterials for applications in disease diagnostics and regenerative medicine. Her substantial body of work influences research groups around the world (>450 publications, h-index 123, >58k citations, Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher).

Professor Stevens holds numerous leadership positions including Deputy Director of the Kavli Institute for Nanoscience Discovery and the UK Quantum Biomedical Sensing Research Hub, and Scientist Trustee of the National Gallery. She is Fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK), Foreign Member of the National Academy of Engineering (USA), International Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and she has been recognised with over 30 international awards including the 2023 Novo Nordisk Prize.

Plenary Details

Monday 29 June

Advanced bioengineering approaches for biomaterials design for therapeutics and regenerative medicine.

This talk will provide an overview of recent advances in materials for therapeutic and biosensing applications, with a particular focus on establishing translational pipelines to bring our innovations to the clinic. We have developed fabrication methods to engineer complex 3D architectures and biofunctionalized surfaces, incorporating spatially arranged bioinstructive biochemical and topographical cues. Our therapeutic delivery portfolio includes high-molecular-weight polymer carriers for enhanced delivery of saRNA therapeutics, as well as photo-responsive nanoreactors inspired by circadian rhythms. Additionally, we are developing innovative solutions for targeted and controlled delivery using soft robotics with unique bioinspired properties that respond to external stimuli to release therapeutic payloads. Our design approach integrates state-of-the-art fabrication techniques while prioritizing versatility and scalability to maximize translational potential. We are exploiting the sensing capabilities of functionalised nanoparticles to engineer nanoprobes for in vivo disease diagnostics that produce a colorimetric response ideal for naked eye read-out and for CRISPR-based preamplification free detection of ncRNAs (CrisprZyme). Additional work explores alternative synthetic binders that can be incorporated into both diagnostic and therapeutic systems to enhance molecular recognition of cancer targets. Furthermore, we have developed Raman microspectroscopy imaging tools and machine learning algorithms for hyperspectral unmixing of complex biological imaging. These technologies enable us to investigate live-cell and organoid models and visualize the in vivo fate of nanomedicines. I will present recent advances in Raman spectroscopy for high-throughput, label-free characterization of single nanoparticles—an approach we pioneered through the SPARTA™ technique—which allows for the comprehensive analysis of a broad range of nanoparticle-based therapeutics and exosome-based diagnostics. Finally, I will explore how these versatile technologies can drive transformative biomedical innovations. I will also discuss our efforts in establishing effective translational pipelines to accelerate clinical applications while actively working towards the democratization of healthcare.