Science & Technology
Bakerian Lecture Bioelectronics – technology interfaces with the human body
The Bakerian Medal and Lecture 2026 is awarded to Professor John Rogers FRS for foundational scientific and engineering contributions to the field of bioelectronics.
In Professor Rogers' talk, he will cover the advanced electronic/optoelectronic technologies designed to allow stable, intimate integration with living organisms will accelerate progress in biomedical research; they will also serve as the foundations for new approaches in monitoring and treating diseases. Specifically, capabilities for injecting miniaturized, biocompatible electronic systems and other components into soft tissues or for softly laminating them onto the surfaces of vital organs will create unique and important opportunities in tracking and manipulating biological activity.
This presentation describes the core concepts in electrical engineering, materials science and system design that underpin these types of technologies, including bioresorbable, or ‘transient’, devices engineered to disappear into the body on timescales matched to natural processes. The content also includes examples of successful translation out of an academic setting and into medical deployments with regulatory approval -- at a global scale, including resource constrained locations in lower and middle income countries. Examples range from skin-like devices for health monitoring to bioelectronic ‘medicines’ for neuroregeneration and temporary cardiac pacing.
Professor John A. Rogers obtained BA and BS degrees in chemistry and in physics from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1989. From MIT, he received SM degrees in physics and in chemistry in 1992 and a PhD degree in physical chemistry in 1995. From 1995 to 1997, Rogers was a Junior Fellow in the Harvard University Society of Fellows. He joined Bell Laboratories as a Member of Technical Staff in 1997 and served as Director of the Condensed Matter Physics Research Department from 2000 to 2002. He then spent thirteen years on the faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign, finally as the Swanlund Chair Professor and Director of the Seitz Materials Research Laboratory. In the Fall of 2016, he joined the faculty at Northwestern University where he is Director of the Querrey-Simpson Institute for Bioelectronics.
His research has been recognized by many awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship, the Lemelson-MIT Prize, the Smithsonian Award (2013), the Benjamin Franklin Medal (2019), a Guggenheim Fellowship, and the Bakerian Medal of the Royal Society. He is a member of the US National Academy of Engineering, of Sciences and of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Society.
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