Donatella Puglisi

Donatella Puglisi is an Associate Professor (Docent) at Linköping University's Department of Physics, Chemistry and Biology within the Faculty of Science and Engineering. She leads the Sensor and Actuator Systems (SAS) research group and serves as International Steering Committee Member of EUROSENSORS and Co-founder of NORNDiP, the Nordic Network for Diversity in Physics. Her work bridges academia with industry, government, and civil society to address global challenges through sensor technology innovation.

Dr. Puglisi's research focuses on smart sensor technologies, particularly electronic noses enhanced with machine learning for odor detection. Her work spans volatile organic compounds and air pollutants monitoring with applications in early cancer diagnostics, medical devices, forensic sciences, indoor air quality, environmental monitoring, food quality control, and cultural heritage preservation. She has developed innovative sensor-based devices and pioneered methods for precise molecular identification across diverse scientific domains.

Her recent publications reveal a strong trend toward interdisciplinary applications of sensor technology, with particular emphasis on healthcare diagnostics (cancer detection through breath analysis), forensic applications (cadaver detection as alternative to dogs), food safety (meat inspection), and environmental monitoring (methane, indoor air quality). The integration of machine learning with sensor development appears as a consistent theme across her work, enabling more precise and adaptable detection systems.

• ÅForsk Entreprenör scholarship 2019 for entrepreneurial activities

Dr. Puglisi has successfully led multiple significant research projects including HEADLINE – Health Diagnostics Electronic Nose (funded by NSF Convergence Accelerator), Preventive solutions for sensitive Materials of Cultural Heritage (H2020), and several ovarian cancer diagnostic projects funded by VINNOVA. She actively collaborates internationally, recently securing the first Swedish-U.S. collaboration under the NSF Convergence Accelerator program. Her educational approach emphasizes challenge-, project-, problem-, and Agile-based learning, with courses spanning leadership principles, sustainable development, and applied physics.

She directs the Sensor and Actuator Systems (SAS) research group at Linköping University, which conducts multidisciplinary research spanning materials for sensors, systems integration, cell-free synthetic biology lab-on-a-chip detection, and soft robots. Her work has practical applications in medical diagnostics, forensic investigations, food safety, and environmental monitoring, with several projects transitioning toward commercialization.