Project 1: Quantitative MicroPAD for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1) Detection
While laboratory tests are the current gold standard for HIV diagnosis, Point of Care HIV tests can provide patients with rapid results. However, current POC devices on the market are often expensive, fail to detect acute infections due to low sensitivity, and only offer binary assessments of analytes of interest. Rapid quantitative analysis may also allow for improved temporal monitoring of viral load among patients. The purpose of this investigation is to develop a cost-effective microfluidic paper-based analytical device (MicroPAD) capable of HIV biomarker quantitation at the point of care without the use of sophisticated supporting equipment.
Project 4: Human Immunodeficiency Virus-1 Assembly
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A large number of HIV-1 virions that are produced by a host cell are non-infectious. The HIV-1 Particle Assembly project is focused on identifying the location within a host cell where those infectious HIV virions are created. If this location can be identified, it would provide an opportunity to develop a drug targeting this location for HIV-positive individuals. It would serve to decrease transmittance rates as well as reduce the negative effects of the HIV virus within the body. This research is being done using techniques including mammalian cell culturing and transfection, bacterial cell culturing and transformation, Western Blotting, cell immunofluorescence, plasmid purification, oligonucleotide insertion, and CRISPR gene editing.
Project 6: Flexible Electronics on Paper
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We investigate a new method of fabricating flexible paper electronics via extrusion-based 3D printing of conductive thermoplastics onto cellulose-based paper. Plastics have been traditionally used as platforms for flexible electronics due to physical properties. The purpose of our investigation is to increase the accessibility of paper electronics fabrication via FDM and more specifically, to only use cost-effective, commercially-available materials. This method will incorporate the many advantages of inkjet printed circuits, while also increasing accessibility, reducing cost, and enabling the incorporation of 3D structures into paper electronics.