Dr. Hadeel Elayan is a postdoctoral fellow at the Ultrabroadband Nanonetworking Laboratory at Northeastern University. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) Toronto Chapter, where she joined in 2020. In this leadership position, she has played a key role in strengthening the chapter’s impact across the IEEE Toronto Section by organizing events that engage researchers, industry professionals, and young engineers. Notable events she has led include the IEEE Toronto 5G Summit, Leaders of Tomorrow Forum, and the Inter-Society Distinguished Lecturer Day.

Within IEEE, Dr. Elayan has held several prominent roles in international conferences and editorial activities. She served as a Technical Program Committee (TPC) Track Chair for the IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference (VTC) 2025 and as a Guest Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Molecular, Biological, and Multi-Scale Communications (TMBMC) in 2025. She served as TPC Co-Chair for the 11th ACM International Conference on Nanoscale Computing and Communication (NANOCOM) in Milan, Italy, in October 2024. Dr. Elayan also regularly serves as a reviewer for IEEE TMBMC, contributing to the peer-review process in her field of expertise.

Dr. Elayan earned her Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Toronto, Canada. At the heart of her research lies a vision to connect the unconnected by bridging the physical, digital, and biological domains through next-generation wireless systems. With the rapid advancement of 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), and the emergence of 6G technologies, her work envisions a future of pervasive connectivity—from wearable health monitors to implantable devices within the human body.

Her research delves into the nanoscale, where she explores the terahertz (THz) frequency band, an unconventional yet promising spectrum for bio-integrated communication. Terahertz waves offer key advantages, including compact transceiver design, non-ionizing radiation, and photon energies that match biomolecular vibrational modes.

Dr. Elayan’s investigations span multiple biological scales. At the tissue level, she develops models to analyze THz signal attenuation and propagation. At the molecular level, her work examines how THz radiation interacts with specific protein resonances to trigger functional changes, enabling novel biosensing mechanisms. This multiscale approach not only informs the development of realistic intra-body communication systems but also supports the design of THz biosensors for detecting conformational shifts in proteins.

In recognition of her contributions, Dr. Elayan was named an N2Women Rising Star in 2024 and selected as one of the Innovators Under 35 MENA by MIT Technology Review Arabia in 2023. Most recently, she was awarded the Mojgan Daneshmand Grant from the IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society.

Through her interdisciplinary research, leadership in the IEEE community, and commitment to advancing next-generation wireless technologies, Hadeel’s work continues to bridge the gap between engineering and biology, driving innovation at the intersection of connectivity, health, and human-centered technology.