Biomedical Sciences Division (BioMed)
Decoding Life, Advancing Health
Overview
The Biomedical Sciences (BioMed) division at KAUST brings together world-class science, technology, and education to address today’s most pressing health challenges. Through interdisciplinary research, advanced computational and digital tools, and strong partnerships across the healthcare ecosystem, BioMed connects discovery with real-world impact - supporting national priorities while contributing to global advances in health and disease.
Vision
BioMed will improve health in Saudi Arabia and beyond by harnessing cutting edge science and technology to investigate, educate on, and translate discoveries that make people’s lives better.
Mission
BioMed applies the scientific and technical expertise of KAUST by interdisciplinary collaboration and intersectional partnerships both within and beyond the university, leveraging and boosting the efforts of the health care ecosystem to understand, prevent, and treat disease.
We will encourage, educate, and promote expertise in the study and taming of disease to help engineer a healthier life for all, using knowledge generation with widespread deployment of health-translated advances underpinned by our cutting edge, world class technical expertise.
A Message from the Dean of Biomedical Sciences (BioMed)
Professor Peter J Goadsby FMedSci FRS
BioMed is KAUST's newest division, harnessing the University's world-class science and technology to advance healthcare outcomes in Saudi Arabia and beyond. We apply cutting-edge computational and digital tools to understanding, combating and preventing disease.
BioMed is at the start of an exciting journey. The division offers a collaborative environment where scientific excellence meets a passion for teaching and mentoring a new generation of graduates who will advance health in the 21st century.
Our priorities are those of the Kingdom, our mission aligned with Vision 2030's aspirations for better health. Our graduate programs uniquely integrate biology with engineering and bioinformatics and, our faculty and students strive to be future-ready for the rapidly emerging challenges and opportunities in biomedical science.
BioMed draws on the KAUST ecosystem of outstanding research and technical capabilities, all set against the backdrop of the Red Sea. We are beginning an ambitious journey, and invite those who share our vision of a healthier life for all.
Our Programs
Program Affiliations
Research Interests
Wayne develops novel single-molecule methods to study biology at its most fundamental level. His research focuses on label-free sensing platforms that use optical or ionic current-based approaches to identify and map biopolymers and protein dynamics. These techniques enable the investigation of biological processes at the single-molecule scale. He is interested in emerging sensing technologies based on new physical principles and materials, including two-dimensional (2D) materials. His past achievements include the first demonstration of DNA translocation in 2D slits, the development of a nanopore-based CRISPR-dCas9 biosensing approach for DNA-typing diagnostics, direct label-free sensing of DNA interactions with 2D materials, and other solid-state nanopore concepts for DNA/protein sensing. Most recently, his lab has been developing next-generation sensors to explore complex biological systems such as biomolecular condensates—membraneless organelles that play essential roles in cellular function and are increasingly implicated in neurodegenerative diseases.
His lab welcomes scientists interested in playing at the intersection of disciplines, including biology, physics, materials science, biochemistry, and nanofabrication!
Single Molecule Sensor
Biophysics
Biosensing
2D materials. Label-Free
Education Profile
Scientist, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Switzerland, 2023
Ph.D. Applied Physics, TU Delft, Netherlands 2021
M.Sc. Physics, McGill University, Canada, 2015
B.Sc. Physics, McGill University, Canada, 2013