Metrology for Biology: Opportunities for Photonic and Microelectronic Integrated Circuits in Regenerative Medicine and Beyond

Dr. Kyle Preston
Director of Chips and Sensors
SiPhox Health

Regenerative medicine holds remarkable promise for applications such as restoring muscle and nerve function after traumatic injury, repairing heart tissue after a heart attack, and restoring lost neurological function in conditions such as Parkinson’s disease and spinal cord injury. At its core, this approach seeks to direct cells to grow, differentiate, and assemble into functional biological systems. While the biological mechanisms are increasingly well understood and applications are entering clinical trials, a dominant challenge in translating these therapies to scale is establishing an engineering and manufacturing mindset grounded in quantitative measurement: proteins, metabolites, and signaling molecules must be detected and controlled in environments containing complex and variable background. Achieving reliable outcomes requires suppressing non-specific signals, resolving small concentration changes over time, and integrating measurement directly into long, multi-stage manufacturing processes such as stem cell differentiation.

This talk provides an overview of the current state of the art in regenerative medicine and its measurement challenges. It then examines how photonic and microelectronic integrated circuits can combine light‑concentrating photonic resonator sensors, engineered surface functionalization, and instrumentation derived from optical transceivers to enable sensitive biomolecular measurements that extract weak biological signals above the noise of the biological system. We discuss how these capabilities support monitoring and feedback in regenerative medicine, and how the same measurement technologies extend naturally to distributed biomanufacturing and emerging consumer health diagnostics for precision medicine. 

Kyle Preston is director of chips and sensors at SiPhox Health, a Boston startup developing biosensing technology to tackle the chronic disease epidemic. He leads core technology development including design, manufacturing, signal processing, and system integration for photonic integrated circuits. He is also PI on BIO INSPECT, a government-directed project through AIM Photonics applying biosensing to regenerative medicine. Previously he was a group lead at Quantum-Si, Inc., developing massively parallel single-molecule fluorescence detection on a chip, which enabled the first commercial product for single-molecule protein sequencing. Prior to that he developed optical coherence tomography on a chip at Tornado Spectral Systems for medical and industrial imaging. Dr. Preston obtained his BS, MS, and PhD degrees from Cornell University in electrical and computer engineering, where he developed silicon photonics devices for data communication and was a recipient of the IBM PhD Fellowship. He is a Senior Member of Optica.

Kapil Wadhera
VP, Intel Foundry
GM, Aerospace, Defense and Government Business Group

Talk and Title coming soon.

Adam Hauch
Global detererence & Defense Department
Crane Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC Crane)

Talk and Title coming soon.

Quantum Technology: Overcoming Technical, Market, and Policy Challenges

Dr. John Burky
Chief Product Officer
Beacon Photonics

Quantum technology is frequently promoted as a transformative solution for assured navigation and timing, counter-stealth sensing of advanced air and sub-surface platforms, a cure for cancer, and even world hunger. This talk examines whether such claims are probable — or possible — and, if so, under what technical and societal conditions they might emerge. Many of these conditions hinge on substantial advances in microsystems engineering, particularly integrated photonics. Beyond technology challenges, government policy and market forces will play a decisive role in determining who benefits, when, and on what scale. This talk surveys the most significant application concepts, along with the key limitations and risks, of this emerging technology area.

Dr. John Burke is the chief product officer at Beacon Photonics, a technology start-up company developing integrated photonics and optical micro-systems for several dual-use markets. Prior to this, Dr. Burke was the principal director of quantum science for the DoD, for which he was awarded the Office of Secretary of Defense Metal for Exceptional Public Service. Previously, Dr. Burke was a program manager at DARPA after leading a research laboratory for Air Force Research Lab, developing optical atomic clocks, quantum technology, and photonic systems. He received his PhD from the University of Virginia in atomic physics.

Speaker information coming soon.

Mix and mingle with fellow attendees among palm trees and umbrellas at Sydney’s Grill at the San Diego Zoo. Enjoy dinner and explore Urban Jungle, home to the largest colony of koalas outside of Australia, and discover giraffes, rhinos, and more nearby.