Epidemic of Care
A Call for Safer, Better, and More Accountable Health Care
---George C.Halvorson
Paper-based NAAT for POC diagnostics
Diagnostic assays utilizing nucleic acid amplification testing (NAAT) are by far the most sensitive methods to detect pathogens in clinical samples, however, is only able to conduct at a complexity high central lab. To contain the risk of spread during outbreaks, infected individuals must be diagnosed quickly and ideally with diagnostic tools that can be stored at room temperature, give a rapid and simple readout of results and are user-friendly even to untrained individuals. To address these requirements, we are developing paper-based NAAT for POC diagnostics, which combines novel technologies.
Red flag for severe and fatal COVID-19 cases
Most recent studies have strongly suggested that fine-tuning of the type 1 IFN response in acute infection period in balancing antiviral replication and cytokine overreaction is critical in predicting outcome severity and guiding an early preemptive therapy in patients prior to disease progression, which may prevent cytokine storm syndrome and severe complications of COVID-19. We, therefore, are developing a multiplex test assay to measure trace levels of IFNα in the initial phase of viral infections and enables characterization of IFNα profile to facilitate the assessment of potential interventional treatments to prevent disease progression in the fast-moving pandemic.
Channappanavar R, Fehr AR, Vijay R, Mack M, Zhao J, Meyerholz DK, Perlman S.Cell Host Microbe. 2016 Feb 10;19(2):181-93. doi: 10.1016/j.chom.2016.01.007.