Sahika Inal

Electrical pacing is a key strategy for enhancing the functional maturity of human pluripotent stem cell‐derived cardiomyocytes (hPSC‐CMs) by preserving the contractile phenotype of explanted cardiomyocytes or promoting the development of adult‐like features in immature ones. Electrical stimulation platforms typically employ opaque electrodes positioned at the periphery of the culture dish, limiting the area that can be stimulated and necessitating high currents to activate all the cells. Here, we systematically evaluated how electrode material and spatial configuration influence the response of hPSC‐CMs. We compared transparent indium–tin‐oxide and gold electrodes arranged in three different configurations to vary electrode–cell distance, active surface area, and field orientation. Using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and finite element modeling, we characterized the electrical properties of each setup. We assessed the two‐dimensional (2D) hPSC‐CM monolayer contractility under identical stimulation protocols across all configurations. Among all tested setups, the vertical configuration was the most efficient in eliciting robust contractile responses of mature hPSC‐CMs, and gold electrodes showed higher efficiency. However, electrical pacing did not enhance maturation markers in hPSC‐CMs when applied as a training method. These findings provide design principles for optimizing electrical stimulation systems in cardiac tissue engineering, with implications for disease modeling and cell‐based regenerative therapies.

Misfolded alpha-Synuclein (α-Syn) accumulation is the defining molecular pathology of Parkinson’s disease (PD), yet blood-based assays remain challenged by the high background of peripheral α-Syn originating mainly from red blood cells. Neuronal extracellular vesicles (EVs) circulating in blood offer a biologically enriched source of brain-derived α-Syn proteoforms, but their ultralow abundance has hindered reliable detection. Here, we introduce an organic electrochemical transistor–based multiparametric diagnostic assay that simultaneously detects total, aggregated, and serine-129–phosphorylated α-Syn proteoforms in serum L1CAM ⁺ EVs. The platform achieves low femtomolar sensitivity in buffer and robust analytical performance in clinical specimens. In a cohort of 66 individuals, including prodromal and clinically diagnosed patients with PD, combining the three proteoform readouts distinguished PD from controls with 90.9% accuracy (88.6% sensitivity and 90.9% specificity). By electronically amplifying and resolving multiple neuronal α-Syn signatures in blood, this assay enables a minimally invasive diagnostic tool for early-stage PD and provides a path toward therapeutic intervention during the window when disease-modifying treatments are likely to be most effective.

Launched in recognition of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February), the joint Advanced Electronic Materials / Advanced Materials Interfaces special issue Women in Emerging Organic and Hybrid Electronic Materials and Interfaces showcases cutting-edge research from women scientists at the forefront of advanced electronics. Now Advanced Electronic Materials wants to give voice to the authors , inviting the academic community to the next webinar , "Women in Electronics", next 16th September (4:30-6:30 pm,): with the intervention of 4 worldwide recognized authors - Prof. Luisa Torsi (Bari University, Italy), Prof Sahika Inal (Kaust University, Saudi Arabia), Prof Claudia Tortiglione (Institute of Applied Sciences, CNR, Italy) and Prof Laurie Calvet ( CNRS- Ecolo Polytechnique, France ), the webinar will explore key advances in bioelectronics, wearable and implantable devices, energy storage, sensing, and optoelectronics, highlighting both fundamental discoveries and application-driven innovations. By bringing together diverse perspectives from across disciplines, the session will reveal emerging trends and opportunities that are redefining the future of electronic materials and interfaces. Participants will gain a unique overview of a vibrant and rapidly evolving research landscape Sensing Regimes Governing Potentiometric and Plasmonic Immunoassays Physical Probabilistic Computing with Organic Technologies Organic Mixed Conductors for Bioelectronic Interfaces In situ production of living bioelectronic interfaces The unique capability of living cells to fabricate complex structures starting from simple building blocks offers new paradigms to seamlessly integrate new electronic structures into the living matter, creating new hybrid devices. We exploited this potential in vivo using a simple tissue-like organism, the freshwater polyp Hydra vulgaris, and here I will provide an overview of recent and on-going results obtained with this model together with our methodological approaches. By simple exposure to conjugated oligomers Hydra polyps are capable to fabricate new electronically conducting interfaces in specific cell types, that were by shown to modulate electrophysiological activity of whole animals together with key physiological processes controlled by bioelectrical signaling. In another case, oligothiophene compounds were showed to spontaneously self-assemble into fluorescent and conductive nanofibers seamlessly embedded into the tissues. Cells and tissues with integrated biocompatible electronics, manufactured in vivo, may inspire new devices to manipulate biological functions by adding or augmenting conductivity in physiological or pathological contexts with spatiotemporal control, paving the way to new bioengineering concepts.

The next generation of bioelectronic interfaces demands materials that integrate biocompatibility, robust electrochemical performance and architectural functionality. Here, we introduce a low‐temperature fabrication approach for patterned titanium oxide‐coated titanium carbide nanowires (P‐TiO ₂ @TiC‐NWs), utilizing room‐temperature sputter deposition, avoiding high‐temperature carbide synthesis. TiO ₂ @TiC‐NWs combine the high‐aspect‐ratio architecture of TiO ₂ ‐NWs with the electrochemical performance of TiC, providing a tunable platform for bioelectronic interface design. By tuning sputtering pressure and duration, distinct TiC shell morphologies and compositions were engineered. Low‐pressure deposition produced a uniform conductive shell, favoring faster charge dynamics and a more ideal capacitive response, while high‐pressure deposition generated a carbon‐rich, cauliflower‐like morphology that increased electrochemically accessible surface area. TiO ₂ @TiC‐NWs reached areal capacitances of 1.01 and 2.25 mF cm ^{− 2} for 20 min deposition at 3 and 10 mTorr, respectively, compared with 117 µF cm ^{− 2} and 1.35 mF cm ^{− 2} for the corresponding planar TiC films. After 3000 cycles in physiological buffer, the 10 mTorr, 20 min sputtered sample retained 86% capacitance, while the 3 mTorr retained 75%. C2C12 myotubes cultured on P‐TiO ₂ @TiC‐NW substrates exhibited preferential adhesion and directional alignment along the nanowire stripe axis, demonstrating the capacity of nanoscale surface topography to instruct anisotropic cell organization. Together, these features highlight P‐TiO ₂ @TiC‐NWs as promising bioelectronic interfaces.

Organic materials offer a transformative opportunity for smart edge applications due to their compatibility with large-area manufacturing, mechanical flexibility, scalability at low cost, and potentially reduced environmental impact. While their use in display technologies is now well-established, their integration into other applications domains is still in its early stages. Significant progress has been made in the development of materials for organic neuromorphic devices, enabling explorations of applications in neuroscience, soft robotics and healthcare. Additional promising directions include photonics, optoelectronics and memories. The goal of this roadmap is to consider how the properties of these materials can be leveraged to implement alternative computing methodologies to enable a new generation of organic technologies.

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) combine amplification and transduction, making them attractive for biochemical sensing. Yet, the fundamental mechanisms by which OECTs convert biochemical binding events into electrical signals remain poorly understood, limiting their optimization and broader use in biomarker detection. Here, we demonstrate how binding-induced changes in surface potential and capacitance at OECT interfaces can either translate into amplified output signals or result in destructive interaction and signal cancellation. By integrating electrochemical principles with solid-sate device physics, we establish a rational sensing model and provide design and operation rules to maximize biosensor performance. These include guidelines for operating voltage selection, optimal output signal choice, gate electrode geometry, and channel material properties (n-type versus p-type, doped versus undoped). This framework can enable the rational design of OECT-based sensors with enhanced response, lower detection limits, and improved resistance to interference, paving the way for reliable and versatile use of these devices as the enabler of next generation, high-performance biosensors.

Early blood‐based diagnosis of Parkinson's disease (PD) remains challenging owing to the lack of reliable composite biomarkers and rapid, sensitive, and cost‐effective detection platforms. Here, we report a bioelectronic sensor based on an organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) driven by a laser‐induced graphene (LIG) array. By integrating an alternating‐current (AC)‐mediated LIG rapid incubation system (LRIS), the platform enables multiplexed protein profiling directly from clinical samples within approximately 6 min, with attomolar‐level detection limits. We identify the glycoprotein non‐metastatic melanoma protein B (GPNMB)/granulin (GRN) ratio as a sensitive composite biomarker of neuroinflammatory dysregulation, showing pronounced alterations at early disease stages and complementing α‐synuclein for PD assessment. In PD mouse models spanning mild to severe stages ( n = 32), this ratio correlated with disease progression and enabled the detection of mild neuronal loss. Clinical validation in healthy individuals and patients with PD or prodromal PD ( n = 54) showed that the GPNMB/GRN ratio distinguished patients with PD from healthy controls with 80% sensitivity, 90% specificity, and 85% accuracy. Incorporating α‐synuclein further improved diagnostic accuracy. This biomarker–platform strategy provides a rapid, ultrasensitive, and scalable framework for blood‐based PD screening and early risk assessment.

Timely and accurate diagnosis of respiratory infections is complicated by the symptomatic overlap between highly transmissible pathogens such as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza A (IAV), and influenza B (IBV), highlighting the need for rapid and reliable diagnostics. Here, we report a time‐multiplexed nanobody‐functionalized organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) biosensor for the sensitive detection of RSV, IAV, and IBV directly from unprocessed saliva samples. The platform integrates arrays of nanobody‐functionalized gate electrodes that are exposed in parallel to a single sample and sequentially addressed through a shared transistor channel. We characterize nine previously reported nanobodies and immobilize the best‐performing ones using an oriented SpyDirect self‐assembly strategy. The nanobody‐functionalized gate electrodes are paired with a high‐performance p‐type organic mixed ionic‐electronic conductor channel, enabling efficient signal transduction. The sensor achieves a limit of detection of ca. 1 f m and identifies viral targets within 15 min, without sample preprocessing. In a clinical validation using 17 samples, the platform demonstrated 100% specificity, 86.7% sensitivity, and 88.2% overall accuracy. By combining highly specific nanobodies, a high‐gain transducer, customized surface pre‐treatment, and a time‐multiplexed multi‐gate architecture, this approach provides a scalable and user‐friendly platform for point‐of‐care virus detection.

In organic semiconductors, crystallinity is commonly associated with enhanced charge transport. For organic mixed ionic‐electronic conductors (OMIECs), materials at the core of bioelectronic devices, whether higher crystallinity consistently translates into improved performance remains unresolved. Here, we use thermal annealing to control the crystallinity of three electron‐transporting OMIECs bearing either branched or linear ethylene glycol side chains that are used to promote ion transport. Although annealing uniformly enhances crystallinity across all materials, it improves mixed charge transport only in polymers with linear side chains by doubling electronic charge mobility. Specifically, annealed films with branched side chains exhibit reduced mobility and low water uptake, coinciding with a pronounced bipolaron formation, which we uncovered using a combination of in‐operando physicochemical characterization methods. Thermal annealing is also used to sterilize these materials for interfacing with living cells, with the benefit of improved sensor performance. These results reveal that crystallinity can hinder mixed conductivity depending on side‐chain architecture, independent of the backbone chemistry. By challenging the prevailing assumption that crystallinity is universally beneficial for charge transport, this work establishes design rules for developing OMIECs that combine high performance with compatibility for fabrication and sterilization processes involving high temperatures, paving the way for reliable, scalable bioelectronic devices.