Stanford University: Zhenan Bao is awarded the VinFuture Prize for female innovators

Bao was awarded this prize for scientific advancements from her pioneering work on the development of skin-inspired electronics and their applications to a range of medical and energy applications. She has developed a wide range of novel molecular design concepts for organic electronic materials and fabrication methods.

Her creation of novel organic materials with skin-like functions, such as stretchability, self-healing and biodegradability, is changing ways human will interact with electronics. They allow electronics to seamlessly interface with human body. Bao invented the skin-like “BodyNet,” a soft, integrated, wireless tag that include sensors, screens and smart devices that can be attached or implanted into the human body. These include intracranial pressure monitors, blood flow monitors and the means to track body movements.

Prize winners were announced at the inaugural VinFuture Prize Award Ceremony on Jan. 20 in Hanoi, Vietnam. The international event honored outstanding scientific achievements and promoted innovations for humanity in 2021 with the participation of world-leading scientists, policy makers, leaders of technology corporations and prize winners.