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KEMi Inaugural Symposium

Please join us for the inaugural KEMi symposium, bringing together faculty, students, industry partners, and leadership from across academia, healthcare, and the broader Pacific Northwest community. This collaboration between the UW School of Medicine and the UW College of Engineering advances engineering-based approaches to medicine, with the ambition of changing how disease is detected, treated, and prevented.

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Registration is open!

Event details

Event: KEMi Inaugural Symposium
Date: Thursday, October 22, 2026
Time: 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Location: The Lyceum (Room 160)
Husky Union Building
4001 E Stevens Way NE, Seattle, WA 98195

The day features distinguished opening remarks, oral presentations, a poster symposium, and faculty-led Innovation Workshops.

Space is limited; please RSVP early

RSVP today!
University of Washington, Seattle campus

Distinguished speakers

Robert J. Jones

Robert J. Jones

President, University of Washington

Suzan DelBene

The Honorable Suzan DelBene

U.S. Representative, Washington's 1st District

David Baker

David Baker, PhD

2024 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry
Director UW Medicine Institute for Protein Design
Professor of Biochemistry, UW School of Medicine

Timothy H. Dellitt

Timothy H. Dellit, MD

CEO, UW Medicine; Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs
Paul G. Ramsey Endowed Dean, UW School of Medicine

Nancy Allbritton

Nancy L. Allbritton, MD, PhD

Frank & Julie Jungers Dean of Engineering, UW College of Engineering

Jihui Yang

Jihui Yang, PhD

Vice Dean of the UW College of Engineering

Agenda

Morning

  • 8:30 a.m. Registration and breakfast
  • 9:00 a.m. Welcome remarks
  • 10:20 a.m. KEMi oral presentations

Afternoon

  • 12:30 p.m. Poster symposium and lunch
  • 2:00 p.m. Innovation workshops
  • 4:00 p.m. Reception
KEMi inaugural symposium program

KEMi inaugural symposium

Thursday, October 22, 2026

8:30 – 9:00 A.M.

Registration and breakfast

9:00 – 10:15 A.M.

Opening remarks

  • Tueng T. Shen, MD, PhD

    Director, KEMi
    Associate Dean for Medical Technology Innovation

  • Timothy H. Dellit, MD

    Dean, UW School of Medicine
    CEO, UW Medicine

  • Robert J. Jones, PhD

    President, University of Washington

  • Nancy L. Allbritton, MD, PhD

    Dean, UW College of Engineering

  • The Honorable Suzan DelBene

    U.S. Representative, Washington’s 1st Congressional District

  • SPECIAL REMARKS

    David Baker, PhD

    Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, 2024
    Director, Institute for Protein Design

10:25 A.M. – 12:30 P.M.

Oral presentations

  • Optical Coherence Tomography as an Accessible Tool for Clinical Investigations

    Ruikang (Ricky) Wang, PhD

    Bioengineering; Kren Endowed Chair

  • Doctor Robot (DocBot): Healthcare Engineering with AI & Robotic Technology

    Tueng T. Shen, MD, PhD

    Co-PI, presenting on behalf of the project team

    PI: Xu Chen, PhD
    Mechanical Engineering

  • Biosensors for Continuous Molecular Monitoring and Early Warning

    Quansan Yang, PhD

    Materials Science & Engineering

    Co-PI: Stephen A. McCartney, MD, PhD
    Obstetrics & Gynecology

  • Early Detection of Photoreceptor Dysfunction in Outer Retinal Disease Using Optoretinography

    Ramkumar Sabesan, PhD

    Ophthalmology

    Co-PIs: Jennifer Chao, MD, PhD; Debarshi Mustafi, MD, PhD

12:30 – 2:00 P.M.

Lunch and poster symposium

  • Integrating Engineering and Rehabilitation Medicine to Improve Healthcare and Assistive Technology Access and Customizability

    Jennifer Mankoff, PhD

    Co-PI: Heather A. Feldner, PT, PhD, PCS

    Presented by Shariphine Agoalikum and Jerry Cao

  • Real Time Machine Vision to Enhance Emergency Intubation

    Nathan White, MD, MS

    Co-PIs: Jenq-Neng Hwang, PhD; Richard Utarnachitt, MD, MS

  • Leveraging the ADDF and EyeACT Datasets to Learn and Predict Dementia Thereby Identifying Dementia Biomarkers

    Yue Wu, PhD

  • Wearable Assist Device to Improve Visual Function Following Restorative Therapy

    James A. Kuchenbecker, PhD

    Co-PIs: Russell Van Gelder, MD, PhD; Ruikang Wang, PhD

  • Injectable Biomaterial-Mediated Transplantation of Limbal Fibroblasts for Treatment of Limbal Stem Cell Deficiency

    Yuzuru Sasamoto, MD, PhD

    Co-PI: Cole DeForest, PhD

    Presented by Kosei Suzuki

  • High-Resolution Facial Imaging for Non-Invasive Detection of Rhythm Irregularities and Perfusion Deficits in Atrial Fibrillation Patients

    Nazem Akoum, MD, MS

    Co-PI: Ruikang Wang, PhD

2:00 – 4:00 P.M.

Innovation workshops

GUIDING QUESTION

“What will health and healthcare look like in 2050, and what do we need to do — and what technologies do we need to leverage — to get there?”

  • Rehabilitation, Movement & Neural Engineering

    Chet Moritz, PhD

  • Bio-Integrated Sensing: Materials and Devices in and on the Body

    Quansan Yang, PhD

  • AI-Driven Foundational Regenerative Medicine

    Hannele Ruohola-Baker, PhD

  • Robotics, AI & Emergency Medicine

    Xu Chen, PhD and Nathan White, MD, MS

  • Non-Invasive Medical Imaging for Early Systemic Disease Monitoring

    Ruikang (Ricky) Wang, PhD and Nazem Akoum, MD, MS

  • Building the Future of Programmable Medicines for Regeneration

    Jennifer Davis, PhD

4:00 – 5:00 P.M.

Closing remarks and reception

  • Jihui Yang, PhD

    Vice Dean, UW College of Engineering

Event questions?

Please contact uwkemi@uw.edu