Bao is K.K. Lee Professor of Chemical Engineering, and by courtesy, a Professor of Chemistry and a Professor of Material Science and Engineering at Stanford University. Bao directs the Stanford Wearable Electronics Initiate (eWEAR). Prior to joining Stanford in 2004, she was a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff in Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies from 1995-2004. She received her Ph.D in Chemistry from the University of Chicago in 1995. Bao is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Inventors. She is a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Science.
Bao is known for her work on artificial electronic skin, which is enabling a new-generation of skin-like electronics for regaining sense of touch for neuro prosthetics, human-friendly robots, human-machine interface and seamless health monitoring devices. Bao has been named by Nature Magazine as a “Master of Materials”. She is a recipient of the VinFuture Prize Female Innovator 2022, ACS Chemistry of Materials Award 2022, Gibbs Medal 2020, Wilhelm Exner Medal 2018, L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award 2017.
Bao co-founded C3 Nano and PyrAmes, which produced materials used in commercial smartphones and FDA-approved blood pressure monitors. Research inventions from her group have also been licensed as foundational technologies for multiple start-ups founded by her students.
