Virtual Events
Virtual Events
Wherever you live, connect with UC Santa Cruz by joining us for virtual events. Engage in meaningful conversations, gain professional insights, or network with fellow Slugs, gain professional insights, or simply catch up with fellow Slugs—all from the comfort of your own home.
Slugs & Steins
Slugs & Steins is a monthly series of informal discussions highlighting UC Santa Cruz’s amazing faculty members. Talks are held on the 2nd Monday of each month with topics ranging from organic artichokes to endangered zebras, self-driving cars to Shakespeare.
All are welcome, and audience participation is encouraged. We encourage you to share the link far and wide as slugs and friends from around the world may join us.
Career development webinars
Whether you’re exploring your next move or sharpening the skills you already have, our virtual career development programs are here to help you grow. Join live, online workshops and webinars led by industry professionals and career experts.
Kraw Lecture Series
The Kraw Lecture Series in Silicon Valley is made possible by a generous gift from UC Santa Cruz alumnus George Kraw (Cowell ‘71, history and Russian literature) and Raphael Shannon Kraw. The lecture series features acclaimed UC Santa Cruz scientists and technologists who are grappling with some of the biggest questions of our time.
These talks are hybrid, free, and open to the public. Attend in person at UC Santa Cruz Silicon Valley extension or via livestream.
January 2026
Merging Bioelectronics and Machine Learning for Optimized Wound Healing
Virtual Event
Marco Rolandi, Ph.D
Monday, January 12
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m
The average person experiences one to three wounds each year, leading to an estimated 24 billion wounds globally. Most heal on their own, but many require medical care to avoid infection, scarring, or permanent damage. Traditional wound management relies on standardized protocols that do not adapt to patient differences or the changing state of a wound. Recent progress in bioelectronic wearables and smart bandages now enables individualized wound treatment through sensing, drug delivery, and electrical or light stimulation. Continuous and adaptive therapy remains difficult because no sensor can track all relevant biomarkers in real time. Here, I will discuss machine learning driven bioelectronic strategies for sensing and wound therapy to create a personalized wound therapy that updates in real time depending on the wound stage.
Speaker
Marco Rolandi, Ph.D., is the Jack Baskin Engineering Chair and Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is also co-founder and Chief Scientific Advisor of CruzFoam that makes sustainable packaging solutions. Marco received his Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Stanford University and a LEAD Certificate from the Stanford Graduate School of business. His research focuses on bioelectronic systems and devices, biological control in regenerative medicine and synthetic biology, and their translational applications. His work has been highlighted in The New York Times, the Washington Post, the BBC, New Scientist, MRS 360, IEEE Spectrum, Materials Views, Engadget, Popular Science, and several others. He currently leads one of the teams performing on the DARPA BTO BETR program to accelerate wound regeneration using bioelectronics.
Questions? Please contact University Events at specialevents@ucsc.edu.