معرفی
Mirela Alistar is an Assistant Professor at the ATLAS Institute, University of Colorado Boulder. Her work bridges biological systems with human-computer interaction, focusing on digital microfluidics, biochips, and DIYBio initiatives. She explores personal medicine through portable biochip-based devices enabling direct human-microbiome interaction. Mirela is a prominent contributor to the DIYBio movement, organizing community wetlabs and public engagement projects such as interactive art installations and workshops involving living materials like bacteria and fungi.
She holds a PhD from the Technical University of Denmark and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Hasso Plattner Institute in Germany. Her research emphasizes sustainable biodesign, integrating biomaterials with interactive technologies to address healthcare accessibility and environmental sustainability. Notable projects include OpenDrop (a DIY biochip platform), µMe (exploring microbiome interactions), and 'Scoby Breastplate' (a microbial growing interface).
Mirela’s work spans interdisciplinary collaborations in HCI, biosciences, and design, with a focus on ethical material practices, multispecies interaction frameworks, and feminist approaches to biotechnology. She advocates for inclusive, community-driven biotechnological innovation through open-source tools and participatory prototyping.
