Kathrine 

To start, would you mind introducing yourself, your field, and the main questions your research focuses  on? 

Professor Seshadri 

Yeah, so first of all, my name is Dhruv Seshadri. I am an assistant professor in the Department of  Bioengineering at Lehigh University. My work broadly focuses on the intersection of wearable sensing and bioelectronics to address some of the most critical areas in medicine. 

And so we look at our research from a materials standpoint, a data science standpoint, and a clinical  validation standpoint to ultimately develop technologies that are equitable, that are low-cost, and that are  scalable, not just for the United States, but for the world. 

Kathrine 

Mm-hmm, absolutely. So what first drew you to this field, and what made you realize you wanted to  pursue it as a career? 

Professor Seshadri 

Yeah, sure. So I've always been interested in starting new projects and really thinking about how, instead  of being very vertically driven like industry is, I've always been interested in how do we inspire the next  generation through research, education, and service, but at the same time develop technologies that are  sustainable, long-lasting, and ultimately have the freedom to think and collaborate with like-minded  individuals. And that's what really drew me to academia, was the opportunity to do something different, to have the opportunity to work with whomever I wanted to in the world, to work on some of the most  important challenges and important problems that are affecting the areas that I'm interested in, and  working with amazing people and mentoring students and seeing them grow all throughout the process. So that was why I wanted to devote my career as an academic. 

Kathrine 

Mm-hmm. And next, could you walk us through one project you are currently working on, from the  research question to what your team is doing to investigate? 

Professor Seshadri 

Yeah, I can kind of give a high-level overview. I'll just kind of skip the technical details, but just very high level. We're developing kind of a new electrode technology for physiological monitoring. And what we're—to kind of expand upon that—if you go to a hospital today and you go to a cardiologist,  they typically place electrodes, or stickers, let's just say, on your chest to monitor your heart, to tell you  how your heart functions, the electrical activity of your heart, how well you're doing, to assess for  cardiovascular disease or any other abnormalities. When you look at the stickers, per se, that are placed  on the chest, one such material that's in the stickers is a gel-like substance. And that's typically made out of some sort of petrochemical-based material that's conductive. 

Conductive means it's able to transduce a signal. And it's integrated into the sticker. The issue with that is,  while they work, while they're plentiful and in abundance, they're not environmentally friendly. And oftentimes, they are the most expensive component of these medical consumables. When we look at  the world today, with everything going on geopolitically, there are certainly issues with supply chains as it relates to petroleum globally. We all know that. 

We see that with prices at the gas station every day. So the question my team and I figured out is, well,  how can we recreate that material or recreate that gel-like substance using other materials that are low cost, that are sustainable, such that other countries do not have to depend on a petrochemical source for 

monitoring? How do we democratize, make healthcare equitable so countries don't have to depend on  import-export requirements for such technologies? 

So that's what we've done. We've developed a low-cost gel using agricultural surplus. We took inspiration  from farmers and took products that are available in the Global South and Global North, created a  hydrogel from them, and are integrating it to create what we call the stickers of the future for  cardiovascular care. 

Kathrine 

Awesome. And next, when conducting experiments, what kind of tools, data, or methods do you use most  often? 

Professor Seshadri 

Yeah, so before I kind of get into the specifics, the fundamental thing I tell my students is: follow the  scientific method, right? First, start the scientific method by asking the question at hand. What's the  question driving the research? 

In order to do that, I implore my students to really understand what is being done clinically. What are the  standards of care? So, in other words, what are hospitals using? What are the drawbacks and advantages  of what they're doing? 

And why do we want to develop something new? Once we do that, we can then really start addressing a  hypothesis to answer the questions, and then design a plan of experiments, or a design of experiments,  that can then answer a set hypothesis and then kind of move forward. So for any project that we do, that's  kind of the fundamental pathway we follow, which is no different than probably what you're learning in  high school courses and the fundamental scientific approach. 

So some tools that we use in our experiments along that pathway are different electrical characterization  tools, like an impedance or an LCR meter, that we can use to look at the electrical properties of materials.  We have microscopes. We have a machine called an Instron where we can look at the tensile properties of  a material. 

So what are its mechanical properties? How strong is it? How stretchable is it? 

We can also print different inks on materials. So, in other words, like if you were typing an essay for your  English class and you need to turn in a hard copy, you would send it to print. Similarly, instead of the  paper, we can design new substrates or biocompatible materials and print different types of conductive  inks on the paper or on the material for electronic applications. 

So to do that, we have something called a bioprinter that we utilize in-house. And also, to make devices,  we have a mill, a rotary mill, where we can create molds out of metals. And we have something called the  Carver press, where we can then use silicone to help create a deposit into the molds and, with temperature and pressure, use it to create these squishy devices, right? 

So that you can put on your skin. So our lab has the capabilities and equipment to make materials, test  materials, make devices, and test devices as well. 

Kathrine 

So what does working in your field actually look like in practice, and how's your time split between  computer work, lab work, reading, research meetings, and other activities? 

Professor Seshadri 

Yeah, so that's one of the great things about academia, or my job, is there's no days the same as the  priority. There may be days where I spend half my day in the lab cleaning and doing things or watching  students do experiments. There may be another day where I'm spending half my day teaching in the  classroom, or another day where I'm in my office all day catching up on emails or writing grant proposals,  writing papers, meeting with students.

So no day is the same. And that kind of cyclical type of nature where nothing's the same, it makes it fun. It  removes the stagnancy of a job, and it really makes my career worthwhile in that aspect of it. So what was the first part of your question? 

Kathrine 

So how's your time divided between, like, computer work, bench work, reading, research meetings, and  other activities? 

Professor Seshadri 

Yeah, so, I mean, I can't give you a number because there is no number. It just changes based on what's  going on. 

Kathrine 

Yeah, awesome. And next, based on your own experiences, what type of student do you think would enjoy  pursuing your field? 

Professor Seshadri 

Yeah, that's a fantastic question. So for me, when I evaluate students, I do not look at their GPA, their grade point average. I do not believe GPA is a measure for success in my lab or in an academic career. That said, what I do look for is students that are accountable, that have integrity, and that can  communicate. And ultimately students that want to help, that have a why or want to find their why, and  that are truly passionate about what they wanna do and why they wanna do it, right? So I hire students  where I can see the intangibles such that I can teach them the tangible technical skill sets to help them  grow. 

And so I really want students that are hungry, that want opportunity, that are willing to work hard, that  are able to embrace the ambiguity and work through it, and that really want to engineer or use  engineering to improve patient outcomes. So that's the type of students I have in my group that I'm really  lucky and fortunate to mentor, but also the students that I want to continue hiring and bringing on as my  career advances. 

Kathrine 

And what is something students often misunderstand about your field before they experience it firsthand? Professor Seshadri 

I think, I don't know if it's a misunderstanding, but I think our field is so new that people—there's so many  different areas where it can be applied towards. So just knowing how it's being utilized, where the field  goes, I think that's definitely an area where there's a lot of ambiguity just because of how new it is and  where the field is constantly evolving almost on a weekly basis. So I would just say there's a lack of  education about the field just because of how new it is that leads us to a lot of these kind of—could lead to  misunderstandings or just doubts about what's being done. 

Kathrine 

And finally, what is one realistic step a high school student could take to begin exploring your field? Professor Seshadri 

Yeah, honestly, just if you're interested in wearables, just if you're doing a project, say, in your physics  class or biology class or chemistry class, right? You can just read papers. There's plenty of articles now  online compared to when I was in high school. Use AI to your benefit, such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, et  cetera, to help read about a certain field, just to kind of get a high-level overview. The other thing is, if you're interested in learning about a research lab, reach out to a professor to see if  you could shadow or you could do a summer internship. For example, I had a high school student this  summer who just finished up last Friday who was with me for about a month. And I've been working with 

the student since last year, and he actually ended up publishing a paper, or submitting a paper, in one  month that he was interning in my lab. 

So just reach out, be hungry and open to opportunities. Don't be afraid to ask. The worst thing that can  happen is someone doesn't reach out, respond, or someone says they don't have an opening, but at least  you tried. 

So that's my big piece of advice, not just for my field, but just for the younger generation, is just don't be  afraid to ask questions, stick your hand out, ask for help, or see how you can get involved. And we're all  looking for students that are hungry and motivated. And oftentimes, when we see students that reach out,  we are more than likely to give them a shot. 

Kathrine 

Mm-hmm, absolutely. So that is a wonderful note to end on. Thank you so much for taking the time for  this interview. 

I really enjoyed listening to what you shared.