Saud is a PhD student in the school of biomedical engineering (SBME) at The University of British Columbia (UBC). Originally from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, his research is focused on biosensors for the detection of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. He is co-supervised by Dr. Calvin Kuo, Dr. Babak Shadgan, and Dr. Brian Grunau. His academic background is in biomaterials, prosthetics, 3D printing, and nanotechnology.
His current research aims to tackle unwitnessed cardiac arrests, making up around 75% of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests yearly. Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) is a major population health issue in Canada and the US, resulting in the death of 430,00 per year. Survival to hospital discharge ranges from 5-7% when Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are initiated. OHCA is highly time sensitive and requires immediate intervention, with a major barrier being that unwitnessed cases are typically reported too late for effective intervention. Using biosensors for the immediate detection of OHCA followed by the automatic activation of EMS has the potential to reduce the time to CPR initiation. Saud is alumnus of UBC’s Engineers in Scrubs program, and also spends a lot of his time in student advocacy and mental health literacy. He is the Vice-Chair of the UBC Mental Health Network, and is the Student Advocacy Coordinator for the UBC Graduate Student Society.
Education
- BASc, Materials Engineering, Department of Materials Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science, The University of British Columbia (2015 – 2019)
- PhD, Biomedical Engineering, School of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science & Medicine, The University of British Columbia (2020 – present)
Awards
- Outstanding International Student Award, The University of British Columbia, 2015, 2016
- Dean’s Honour List, The University of British Columbia, 2019, 2020
Current Projects
- Development of a biosensor system for the detection of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest-associated physiological parameters
- Studying the accuracy of biosensors for continuous physiological monitoring in everyday activities
Interests
Biosensors, machine learning, soft materials, nanotechnology, cardiac health, pathophysiology, human anatomy, wearables and prosthetics, electronic materials, additive manufacturing, biocompatibility, implants, hiking, bouldering, gym, swimming, creative writing, music
Publications
Stay tuned!