Jonathan Rivnay

2026 National Award Finalist — Faculty

Jonathan Rivnay

Current Position:
Jerome B. Cohen Professor in Engineering

Institution:
Northwestern University

Discipline:
Materials Science & Nanotechnology

Recognized for: Pioneering bioelectronic materials and implantable “living pharmacies” that combine engineered cells with electronics, advancing personalized therapies for cancer, diabetes, and sleep disorders.

Areas of Research Interest and Expertise:
Organic electronics; Polymer Science and Engineering; Bioelectronics; Living Electronics; Biomedical Devices

Previous Positions:

Professor, Northwestern University
Assistant Professor, Northwestern University
Member, Research Staff, Palo Alto Research Center
Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow, École Nationale Supérieure des Mines, Saint-Étienne, France (Advisor: George Malliaras)
PhD, Stanford University (Advisor: Alberto Salleo)

Research Summary:

The human body runs on chemical and ionic signals, but ordinary electronics struggle to read or join that conversation. To overcome this obstacle, Jonathan Rivnay, PhD is designing soft, flexible electronic materials that work directly with living cells and tissue. Rivnay has helped to pioneer implantable “living pharmacies”: small devices that hold engineered cells and prompt them to make and release medicines inside the body. Rivnay’s work is leading the world to more personalized treatments for long-term conditions such as cancer, diabetes, and circadian rhythm disorders.

“We seek to understand and design soft materials and devices that bridge electronics and biology, opening new ways to sense, respond, and compute for next-generation personalized diagnostics and therapeutics.”

Key Publications:

  1. D. Meli, Q. Thomas, N. Rolland, G. Freychet, C.J. Kousseff, P. Cavassin, L.Q. Flagg, V. Lemaur, A. Surendran, Z. Hamid, S. Griggs, R. Wu, R.A. Huerta, I.D. Duplessis, B.D. Paulsen, T.J. Marks, L.J. Lauhon, I. McCulloch, L.J. Richter, D. Beljonne, J. Rivnay. Charge state-dependent ion condensation near conjugated polymer backbones. Materials Horizons, 2026.

  2. I. Lee, A. Surendran, S. Fleury, I. Gimino, A. Curtiss, C. Fell, D.J. Shiwarski, O. Refy, B. Rothrock, S. Jo, T. ScRivnayhwartzkopff, A.S. Mehta, Y. Wang, A. Sipe, S. John, X. Ji, G. Nikiforidis, A.W. Feinberg, J. Hester, D.J. Weber, O. Veiseh, J. Rivnay*, T. Cohen-Karni*. Electrocatalytic on-site oxygenation for transplanted cell-based-therapies. Nature Communications, 2023.
  3. X. Ji, X. Lin, J. Rivnay. Organic electrochemical transistors as on-site signal amplifiers for electrochemical aptamer-based sensing. Nature Communications, 2023.
  4. B.D. Paulsen, K. Tybrandt, E. Stavrinidou, J. Rivnay. Organic mixed ionic–electronic conductors. Nature Materials, 2020.

Other Honors:

2025 AIMBE Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)
2023-2025 Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher (Cross-Field), Clarivate Analytics
2022 Young Scientists Award, iCANX
2021 Young Innovator of Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering (CMBE), Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES)
2020 ACS Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) Young Investigator, American Chemical Society (ACS)
2020 Young Investigator Program (YIP), US Office for Naval Research (ONR)
2020 Outstanding Early-Career Investigator award, Materials Research Society (MRS)
2019-2021 Sloan Research Fellow (Chemistry), Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
2018-2023 NSF CAREER award, National Science Foundation (NSF)

In the Media:

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