accessible brain reader · longitudinal data · Health AI · wearable · implantable · decode · restore · accessible brain reader · longitudinal data · biomagnetic sensing · contactless · heart · brain · muscle · gut · MR sensors · flux concentrators · biomagnetic sensing · contactless · FieldAtlas · bifurcation · extracellular field stimulation · channel attribution · selective waveform design · synthetic bioelectric systems · FieldAtlas · bifurcation · implantable cell factories · Chip-in-Cell · cellular control · engineered biological function · intracellular sensing · implantable cell factories · Chip-in-Cell · every · wave · tells · a · story · every · wave · tells · a · story · every · wave · tells · a · story · every · wave · tells · a · story ·

Every wave
tells a story

We build interfaces between electronics and living systems to decode, modulate, restore, and genetically engineer life’s signals.

About the Lab
Where physics meets
the human body
We create new interfaces between electronics and living systems, from wearable and implantable sensing to cellular control and engineered biological function. Our work spans electromagnetics, circuits, sensing, and biology to reveal, shape, and restore the signals of life, and to build a future of Health AI powered by accessible sensors that continuously capture longitudinal data from each individual.
Led by Prof. Ada Poon, the lab takes a vertically integrated approach: from electromagnetic theory and CMOS design to algorithms, animal models, and clinical translation. We build the tools that make health measurement continuous, personal, and actionable.
10+
PhD graduates
Dozens
Patents across wireless bioelectronics
1/3+
Patents licensed out
2026
IEEE Fellow; licensed technology acquired
Research
Signals of life,
decoded and reprogrammed
From contactless biomagnetics to chip-in-cell electronics, we build the interfaces that sense, modulate, and reprogram living systems.
Accessible Brain Reader
Brain monitoring has been locked inside the clinic — not because the science demands it, but because the instrument does. BodyReader is a clinically robust, self-contained sensor for continuous at-home recording, combining signal quality, wearability, and remote data capture in one platform. The goal is to validate known biomarkers, discover new ones from longitudinal personal trajectories, and advance our vision for Health AI: software + accessible sensors that continuously capture real-world individual data.
Biomagnetic Sensing
Bioelectric medicine still relies on electrodes that degrade at the tissue interface over time. We are developing wearable and implantable biomagnetic sensing to read heart, brain, muscle, and gut activity without direct contact, enabled by high-sensitivity MR sensors, flux concentrators, and ultra-low-noise readout electronics. The goal is richer field-level physiology with more durable interfaces than conventional electrode-based wearables and implants.
FieldAtlas
FieldAtlas is a computational platform that maps how ion-channel composition and cell biophysics shape bifurcation behavior under extracellular field stimulation. It combines whole-cell dynamical analysis with channel-level attribution to explain mode transitions and divergence across stimulation regimes. The goal is to turn bifurcation theory into an engineering framework for selective waveforms, minimal channel redesign, and testable control strategies in native and synthetic bioelectric systems.
Implantable Cell Factories
Living drug factories that provide continuous, endogenous supply of therapeutic peptides — especially those with short half-lives or demand-coupled dosing needs, such as GLP-1, insulin, and glucagon. FieldAtlas identifies stimulation waveforms for peptide release by linking channel composition and cell biophysics to secretion thresholds. Cell PharMixy, our wirelessly powered dual-chamber implant, provides on-demand convective hormone release while synchronous chamber coupling drives vortex mixing to keep cells oxygenated and viable.
Chip-in-Cell
Chip-in-Cell places microscale electronics inside individual cells to record intracellular signals and state changes in real time. By coupling sensors, logic, and wireless interfaces at subcellular scale, the platform turns the cell interior into a programmable measurement site. FieldAtlas is used to identify the channel composition and stimulation conditions that drive cells into sustained spiking, and the resulting electrical activity is harvested to power the embedded chip. The long-term goal is to read and eventually influence cell behavior from the inside out.
Autolocking Passive Biosensors
On the reader side, a compact smartphone-class platform uses weakly nonlinear oscillator-based autolocking to acquire signals automatically, without manual frequency sweeps. On the sensor side, passive inductive electrochemical transducers enable biofluid-powered operation (saliva or urine) with wireless readout. Together, this architecture supports disposable, low-cost sensing for food monitoring, preventive screening, and longitudinal health tracking outside the clinic.
News & Milestones
The story so far
FEB 2026
Nalu, which licensed the lab's wireless powering technology, was acquired.
NOV 2025
IEEE Fellow 2026 — Ada named to the 2026 class of IEEE Fellows for contributions to wireless power transfer and implantable devices.
JUN 2025
Ziad Ali completed his PhD defense — congratulations!
MAY 2024
Joon Yang completed his PhD defense — congratulations!
NOV 2022
Ella Thomson completed her PhD defense — congratulations!
OCT 2022
Ada published on Stanford Medicine Scope about wireless implants for clinical applications.
SEPT 2022
Ada receives NAM Healthy Longevity Catalyst Award from the National Academy of Medicine.
AUG 2022
Cheng Chen completed her PhD defense.
MAY 2022
Siavash Kananian completed his PhD defense.
JAN 2019
Ada presented at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos.
FEB 2017
Ada named Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Investigator.
People
Current team
and recent alumni
Ada Poon
Ada Poon
Principal Investigator
Stanford Engineering
George Alexopoulos
George Alexopoulos
PhD Student
Current
Joanna Sands
Joanna Sands
PhD Student
Current
XQ
Xinhao Quan
PhD Student
Current
AY
Andrew Yang
PhD Student
Current
NH
Nofar Hemed
Research Scientist
Current
Ziad Ali
Ziad Ali
Postdoctoral Researcher
Current

Former PhD Students and Postdocs
JR
Jihun Rho
Postdoctoral Researcher
2025
Joon Yang
Joon Yang
PhD Graduate
2024
Ella Thomson
Ella Thomson
PhD Graduate
2023
Cheng Chen
Cheng Chen
PhD Graduate
2022
Siavash Kananian
Siavash Kananian
PhD Graduate
2022
Stephanie Hsu
Stephanie Hsu
PhD Graduate
2018
Hui Wang
Hui Wang
Postdoctoral Researcher
2018
Yashar Rajavi
Yashar Rajavi
PhD Graduate
2017
Lyndia Wu
Lyndia Wu
Postdoctoral Researcher
2017
Kamal Aggarwal
Kamal Aggarwal
PhD Graduate
2016
John Ho
John Ho
PhD Graduate
2015
AY
Alexander Yeh
PhD Graduate
2014
Mazi Taghivand
Mazi Taghivand
PhD Graduate
2014
AY
Anatoly Yakovlev
PhD Graduate
2013
Sanghoek Kim
Sanghoek Kim
PhD Graduate
2013
RT
Richard Tseng
PhD Graduate
2010
Saihua Lin
Saihua Lin
PhD Graduate
2010
Select Publications
Highlights from
the literature
📚
Spatial Richness of Neural Magnetic Fields
2025 • bioRxiv • Ziad Ali, Ada S. Y. Poon
📚
Minimalistic, Disposable Wireless Electrochemical Sensors: Integrating Self-Powered Amperometry with Direct Inductive Coupling
2025 • Biosensors and Bioelectronics • Jihun Rho, Andrew Yang, Joanna Sands, Ada S. Y. Poon
📚
Intermittent Low-Magnitude Pressure Applied Across Macroencapsulation Devices Enables Physiological Insulin Delivery Dynamics
2025 • Diabetes • Thomson, Lee, Xu, Moeller, Sands, Lal, Annes, Poon
📚
Enhancing Therapeutic Insulin Transport from Macroencapsulated Islets Using Sub-Minute Pressure at Physiological Levels
2024 • bioRxiv • Thomson, Lee, Xu, Moeller, Sands, Lal, Annes, Poon
📚
A Disposable Reader-Sensor Solution for Wireless Temperature Logging
2023 • Device • Siavash Kananian, Jihun Rho, Cheng Chen, Ada S. Y. Poon
📚
Robust Wireless Interrogation of Fully-Passive RLC Sensors
2022 • IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I • S. Kananian, G. Alexopoulos, A. S. Y. Poon
📚
An Energy-Harvesting Stamp-Sized Reader for Distance-Immune Interrogation of Passive Wireless Sensors
2022 • CICC • Siavash Kananian, Cheng Chen, Ada S. Y. Poon
📚
A 90-uW Penny-Sized 1.2-gram Wireless EEG Recorder with 12-Channel FDMA Transmitter for Month-Long Continuous Mental Health Monitoring
2022 • IEEE Symposium on VLSI Technology and Circuits • Cheng Chen, Joonseok Yang, Ada S. Y. Poon
Get in Touch
Let's write the next chapter
Interested in joining the lab, collaborating, or visiting? We'd love to hear from you.
Location
Stanford School of Engineering
Web
biosystems.stanford.edu
PI
Prof. Ada Poon
Contact the Lab