Umer Hassan received an award from National Science Foundation (NSF) for the project “PFI-TT: Immuno-Dx: A Biomedical Platform Technology for Personalized Diagnostics”. This is a 2-year, single PI project with a total budget of $550,000.
The primary objective of this Partnerships for Innovation - Technology Translation (PFI-TT) project is developing a biomedical device capable of detecting and monitoring patient's ability to combat infections. The proposed technology will address the unmet need in emergency department settings of the hospitals where it can be used to monitor patients’ response to therapeutic treatments and identify high-risk patients. A minimal viable prototype (MVP) will be developed from proof-of-concept biosensing technology (called Immuno-Dx), which is centered around monitoring natural ability of blood cells to kill pathogens. Immuno-Dx can have applications in areas (i) to better understand immune system responses of patients to pathogenic infections, (ii) to develop new immunotherapy drugs by pharmaceutical companies, and (iii) to strategize patient treatments by physicians. Biosensing device will be able to provide information regarding patients’ ability to combat infection within 30 min from a drop of whole blood. This PFI-TT project will enable workforce development in spirit with the NSF mission of training next generation of scientists and engineers in technical and entrepreneurial skills, while creating a direct impact on national healthcare and aiding the US economy. The potential outcome of PFI-TT proposal will be the transition of Immuno-Dx technology from PI’s research laboratory to a commercial startup company.
More details on the project can be found at the NSF page https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2329761&HistoricalAwards=false