Patricia Khashayar is the Director of the International Institute for Biosensing (IIB) in the Research Computing, Research & Innovation Office at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. In this role, she leads a coordinated and collaborative national and international initiative that brings together experts from academia, nonprofits, industry, and government agencies. Her work focuses on developing real partnerships, identifying barriers to advancing biosensing research, and generating innovative solutions.

A Medical Doctor by training, Patricia holds a PhD in Nanobiotechnology and Biomedical Engineering. She got her MBA in entrepreneurship from London Business School. She has led and participated in numerous national and international projects aimed at improving personalized care. Her research spans from multimorbidity studies and identifying risk factors, exposomes, and shared biomarkers to developing multi-modal multi-omics biosensors and point-of-care (PoC) tools for patient stratification, early diagnosis, and treatment monitoring. She has obtained various grants from the European Commission to develop proteomics and genomics point of care solutions for various diseases such as osteoporosis and cervical cancer. She has published more than 150 articles, 1 granted patent and 1 monograph.

As a Research Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, she continues her research in precision sensing and exposomics, expanding her focus to applications that enhance human well-being beyond healthcare.

Before joining the University of Minnesota, Patricia was affiliated with the University of Gent, where she remains a Guest Professor. In her role, she served as an expert on various panels such as the Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (FWO) interdisciplinary Panel and European Innovation Council (EIC) SME for the European Commission.

Patricia is also active in various international organizations. She is a member of the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF)’s Committee of Scientific Advisors (CSA), which provides global recommendations for osteoporosis and other musculoskeletal diseases. Additionally, she is the chair of IEEE Twin Cities Sensor Council Chapter as well as IEEE Twin Cities Women in Engineering Affiliated section.