New research fellow to lead a programme of research into novel biomedical sensing technologies

We are pleased to welcome Dr Enrico Ravagli to the Insigneo Institute for Healthcare Technology. Dr Ravagli has been appointed as the Hitchon Family Research Fellow in Biomedical Sensing Engineering and will be taking forward a programme of transformative research in the engineering and applications of novel biomedical sensing technologies. 

Advances in these biomedical sensing technologies can give new insights into human health, improve data collection, and integration into clinical research. The use of wearable biosensors and compact sensor-based imaging techniques can transform the experience for patients, allowing non-invasive real-time monitoring at home, leading to fewer visits to clinic and hospital stays. 

Dr Ravagli’s work is aligned with the Insigneo Institute’s research, in particular our smart devices and sensors research theme, and the CHIMES2 network of heterogeneous chip design. Dr Ravagli will also work with the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and, through our partnership with NHS Trusts, will have the opportunity to collaborate on clinical testing and evaluation.

This fellowship has been made possible thanks to a generous philanthropic donation from the Hitchon Family. 

About Dr Ravagli

Dr Enrico Ravagli received his PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Bologna, Italy, in 2017, with a doctoral thesis focused on the development of novel non-invasive biomedical sensors for monitoring physiological parameters during haemodialysis.

Following his PhD, he joined the Electrical Impedance Tomography and Neurophysiology (EITN) Lab within the Department of Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering at University College London (UCL), where he worked on a range of research projects involving peripheral nerve neuromodulation, bioimpedance measurements, and EIT-based imaging of functional activity in neural tissue.

From 2023 to 2026, he held a UKRI Horizon Europe MSCA Guarantee Fellowship, working on retinal bioimpedance imaging and on developing novel Multi-Electrode Arrays and instrumentation for retinal electrophysiology. This project was in collaboration with the University of Sydney, where he spent two years as a visiting researcher.

Dr Ravagli’s research interests include biomedical sensors and measurements, bioelectronics, neural engineering, neuromodulation, and electrical impedance tomography. He is particularly passionate about open-source biomedical electronics and the development of open hardware and instrumentation to make biomedical research more accessible.

About the Hitchon Family

Jonathan Hitchon graduated from the University of Sheffield with a BSc in Chemical Engineering in 1983 and later qualified in Accounting. He enjoyed a distinguished career in global financial services and is now a Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative Fellow.

Jonathan lives in Florida with his family and is an active member of the University of Sheffield in America alumni and philanthropic network. The University thanks him and his family for their continued support to fundraising and engagement initiatives as part of the Forged in Sheffield, Shaping the Future campaign.