Dr. Utkan Demirci stands as a distinguished leader in biomedical engineering and translational medicine at the forefront of microscale technology development. He currently serves as a tenured Professor of Radiology and Professor of Electrical Engineering (by courtesy) at Stanford University School of Medicine, where he leads the Bio-Acoustic MEMS in Medicine Laboratory at the Canary Center for Cancer Early Detection. Dr. Demirci earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering summa cum laude from the University of Michigan in 1999, followed by his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University in 2001 and 2005, respectively, along with an additional M.S. in Management Science and Engineering in 2005. Prior to his appointment at Stanford in 2014, he built his academic foundation as an Associate Professor at Brigham and Women's Hospital-Harvard Medical School, while also contributing to the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.
His pioneering research has centered on developing chemistry-free microfluidic technologies that manipulate cells and biomolecules for real-world medical applications, particularly in cancer detection and reproductive medicine. Dr. Demirci's microfluidic sperm selection technology, commercialized as Zymōt, has been implemented in over 500,000 clinical cases across more than 1,000 IVF clinics worldwide, with over 10,000 live births attributed to this innovation. His laboratory has made significant contributions to multiple biomedical fields including the development of portable viral load monitoring platforms for HIV in resource-limited settings, advanced extracellular vesicle isolation techniques for cancer diagnostics, and novel biofabrication approaches for tissue engineering. With over 20 patents issued or pending, his technologies have been translated into commercial products through multiple startup ventures including DxNOW, Koek Biotechnology, and LEVITAS, demonstrating exceptional translational impact from laboratory to clinical practice.
Beyond his technical innovations, Dr. Demirci is a member of Stanford research institutes such as Bio-X, the Cardiovascular Institute, and the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, and has held active leadership roles at the Canary Center at Stanford for Cancer Early Detection, including co-director and division chief (2019–2024). In 2024, he expanded his collaborative network as a visiting Fellow Commoner of Trinity College at the University of Cambridge, where he is working with the Fitzgerald Group to advance early cancer detection technologies. His successful translation of academic research into clinical applications exemplifies his commitment to solving global health challenges through engineering innovation, particularly in underserved healthcare settings. Dr. Demirci continues to lead a productive research group of over twenty scientists, engineers, and clinicians who are advancing the next generation of point-of-care diagnostic tools with potential applications across multiple disease areas from cancer to infectious diseases.
