Sam Sia

Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Vice Provost for the Fourth Purpose and Strategic Impact

Samuel Sia develops technologies for point-of-care blood tests, wearable sensors, and implantable devices, both in an academic and industry setting.

He co-developed a point-of-care blood test for prostate cancer which is being commercialized and has garnered FDA approval, and is co-founder of Rover Diagnostics which is developing rapid and low-cost detection of DNA and RNA.

Sia’s research has garnered coverage from Nature, Science, JAMA, Washington Post, Science News, Popular Science, Chemical and Engineering News and has been featured on the BBC, NPR, and Voice of America. MIT Technology Review named him as one of the top’s world young innovators in 2010, and he is an inducted fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Sia is the founder of Harlem Biospace, a biotech incubator facility in New York City (developed with the NYC mayor’s office) that has hosted over 50 biotech companies. He also currently co-directs the entrepreneurship initiative for Columbia University’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

In 2022, Sia was appointed Vice Provost for Fourth Purpose and Strategic Impact, a new office within the Provost's Office to advance the University's mission on the Fourth Purpose and make positive impact on the world. In this role, Sia is building University infrastructure and partnerships to help Columbia leverage scholarly knowledge to benefit the public good. The office builds mechanisms for internal collaborations, dissolves institutional barriers to partnerships, and works with external partners to transform innovation to community and global impact.

Sia has a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Alberta and a Ph.D. in Biophysics (with a HHMI predoctoral fellowship) from Harvard University. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard University.

Listen to Prof. Sia describe his lab's point-of-care diagnostics research on NPR Science Friday.

Prof. Sia is the current chair of the NIH study section Instrumentation and Systems (ISD), until 2024.

Additional Information

Professional Affiliations
- Co-Founder, Rover Diagnostics and Rover Labs, 2019-Present
- Co-Founder, Harlem Biospace (biotech incubator started with NYC’s Mayor’s Office), 2013
- Co-Founder and Chair of Scientific Advisory Board, Claros Diagnostics (sold in 2011 to OPKO Health, NYSE: OPK), 2004-2011
Honors & Awards
- Inducted Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), 2016
- Thiele Lectureship Award, University of Notre Dame, 2015
- Kjeldgaard International Lectures in Molecular Biology, Aarhus Denmark, 2013
- Runner-up, Wall Street Journal Innovation Award in Medical Devices, 2011
- NASA Launch, one of ten innovators in human health and sustainability, 2010
- MIT Technology Review 35 Innovators Under 35, 2010
- Invited attendee, National Academies Keck Futures Initiative, UC Irvine
- Wallace H. Coulter Early Career Award Phase II, 2008
- NSF CAREER Award, 2008
- Invited participant, National Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering, Seattle, 2007
- Walter H. Coulter Early Career Award, 2006
- American Heart Association Scientist Development Grant, 2006
- Canadian Institutes of Health Research Fellowship (postdoc), 2004-2005
- Harvard University Certificate of Distinction in Teaching, 2002
- Delegate, International Achievement Summit, Dublin, Ireland (1 of 200 graduate students in the world from all disciplines chosen to attend), 2002
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute Predoctoral Fellowship, 1997-2002
- National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada Postgraduate Scholarship B, 1999-2001
- National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada Postgraduate Scholarship A, 1997-1999
- Dean’s Silver Medal in Science, University of Alberta, 1997
- Canada Scholar, 1993-1997
Professional Experience
- Vice Provost for the Fourth Purpose and Strategic Impact, Columbia University, 2022-Present
- Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, 2016-Present
- Faculty Co-Director of Entrepreneurship, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Columbia University, 2014-2023
- Associate Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, 2011-2016
- Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, 2005-2011