Building Point-of-Care Diagnostic Tools

BiosensingA major challenge across many diseases is the inextricable link between the time of initial diagnosis and disease outcome, whereby the likelihood of survival typically diminishes with the time. To combat this problem, our group is developing multifunctional particles that improve the speed and sensitivity of current diagnostic tools. Here, we are building upon the first research area to develop new classes of particles with engineered compositions and bio-recognition domains to interact with cells, proteins and other biomarkers. Our goal is to create rationally designed particles that precisely respond to external fields to enable the rapid and specific capture, isolation and detection of biomarkers in microfluidic and other point-of-care devices.