IRES Track I: Portable Point-of-Care Testing Device for Pathogen Detection

About This Grant

This IRES project will provide an annual cohort of six US students with the opportunity to conduct research for eight summer weeks at Toyohashi University of Technology (TUT) in Japan. The overarching theme of the project is to develop portable point-of-care testing (POCT) devices for efficient detection of infectious pathogens including the coronavirus. Participating students will be recruited with an emphasis on underrepresented groups from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) and local universities in Nebraska including native Indian tribal colleges. As pre-departure preparation trainings, students will participate in a science communication workshop focused on technical writing, virtual meetings with TUT mentors on research activities, and cultural and language lessons. Participating students will not only receive high-quality professional training and exposure to world-class researchers and state-of-the-art research facilities, but also experience a multicultural and interdisciplinary environment. In addition to research activities, participating students will visit Japanese world-leading companies such as Toyota and Yamaha. This project serves the national interest by (1) promoting the progress of science in pathogen detection and POCT technology, (2) advancing the national health and securing the national defense by developing innovative and efficient POCT devices for pathogen detection, and (3) engaging U.S. students in interdisciplinary and multicultural research and thus increasing the likelihood of their choice of STEM career. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the significance of quick and accurate detection of coronavirus cannot be overemphasized. Although conventional detection methods can provide reliable and accurate results, there has been a pressing need for a compact, affordable, and easy-to-use tool that can rapidly detect coronavirus as well as other infectious pathogens with high levels of sensitivity and reliability at the point of care. POCT devices can be a solution for this urgent societal need, and this project aims to develop POCT devices by integrating a CMOS optical sensor and microchannel devices. Integrating microchannels for liquid sample pumping and guidance with a CMOS sensor in a portable case with other electronic components poses various research challenges. In overcoming the challenges in an integrated design approach, this project seeks to address the following research question: how can the microfluidic and CMOS components be optimized separately and integrated into a portable device? Participating students will research key parts of a portable POCT device separately based on respective research expertise of mentors, and then they will integrate their solutions at the system level of the device. This holistic and multifaceted research approach will (1) advance current knowledge of pathogen detection and portable POCT technology and (2) pave a way toward commercializable portable POCT devices. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.