SDRC Member Spotlight: Dr. Siddharth krishnan
Siddharth Krishnan, PhD
Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering (and by courtesy, of Bioengineering and Materials Science and Engineering) | Stanford University SDRC Member since 2025 | Stanford Bio-X Affiliated Faculty
About Dr. Krishnan
Dr. Siddharth Krishnan's path to Stanford is one defined by curiosity, innovation, and a deep commitment to improving patient lives through technology. He earned both his BS and MS degrees from Washington University in St. Louis before completing his PhD at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under Professor John Rogers, where his doctoral thesis earned the Chakrapani Innovation Award for outstanding research.
Following his graduate training, Dr. Krishnan pursued postdoctoral work as a K99-funded Research Scientist in the laboratories of Professors Daniel Anderson and Robert Langer at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT and at Boston Children's Hospital — two of the most renowned research environments in biomedical engineering. It was during this period that he conducted the groundbreaking research on implantable islet cell devices featured below.
Dr. Krishnan joined Stanford University as an Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering and Terman Faculty Fellow, and became a member of the Stanford Diabetes Research Center in 2025. His work sits at the intersection of bioelectronics, bioengineering, and therapeutic device development, and he has been recognized with numerous honors including a JDRF Postdoctoral Fellowship, the 2019 Illinois Innovation Prize, and a place on MIT Technology Review's prestigious Global Innovators Under 35 list. He is also co-founder of Rhaeos Inc., a company focused on translating his graduate research on wireless wearable diagnostic tools into clinical use for neurological surgery.
Dr. Krishnan is an active SDRC member and also received the 2026 SDRC Pilot & Feasibility Award.
Featured Publication
Implantable Islet Cells Could Control Diabetes Without Insulin Injections Research conducted at MIT & Boston Children's Hospital
For the millions of people living with Type 1 diabetes, daily life involves carefully monitoring blood sugar levels and administering multiple insulin injections — a demanding routine with a significant impact on quality of life. Dr. Krishnan, along with co-lead author Dr. Matthew Bochenek, set out to develop a transformative alternative.
Working at MIT prior to joining Stanford, Dr. Krishnan and colleagues engineered an implantable device containing insulin-producing pancreatic islet cells. The device addresses two of the most critical barriers to long-term success: it encapsulates the cells to protect them from immune rejection, and it incorporates an on-board oxygen generator to keep the cells healthy and functional over time.
In preclinical studies, the implanted islet cells survived for at least 90 days, remained functional, and produced sufficient insulin to regulate blood sugar levels in mice — a highly promising step toward a potential long-term alternative to daily insulin injections for Type 1 diabetes patients.
Connect with Dr. Krishnan
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