Global One Health Leader Series, March 14, Next-Generation Molecular Diagnostics

Abstract: Simple, rapid, and sensitive molecular detection plays a crucial role in early diagnosis and treatment of diseases. CRISPR technology has recently emerged as a powerful biosensing tool for point of care molecular diagnostics when coupled with microfluidics technology. In this talk, I will present the development of CRISPR diagnostic technologies. I will introduce our recent effort of integrating CRISPR assay with microfluidic technology to develop low-cost CRISPR-based biosensing systems for detection of infectious diseases. These simple, sensitive, and affordable diagnostic tools exhibit potential for next generation molecular diagnostics of diseases.
About the speaker: Changchun Liu is a professor in the Biomedical Engineering Department at the University of Connecticut Health Center. He received his Ph.D. in Physical Electronics at the Institute of Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IECAS), China. He has a highly interdisciplinary background and training spanning Engineering (i.e., electronic, mechanical), Chemistry and Biomedicine. Dr. Liu’s research interests include the development of synthetic biology, CRISPR technology, microfluidics technology, biosensors, and their biomedical applications with a focus on point-of-care molecular diagnostics of infectious diseases and cancers. He was a recipient of the NIH Career Development Award (K25) in 2012-2017, the Penn One Health Award in 2015, and the W.W. Smith Charitable Trust Research Award in 2016.

Abstract: Advancing towards sustainable agriculture, energy, and biomanufacturing for a growing human population requires novel and convergent approaches to engineer photosynthetic organisms. My research group develops nanotechnology tools to engineer and study plants and algae. We have created optical nanosensors to establish communication between photosynthetic organisms and electronic devices for monitoring plant health. My lab has elucidated design rules for developing biocompatible nanocarriers that target the delivery of chemicals and genetic elements for engineering plant responses to stress. Using nanotechnology and bioengineering approaches, my research group seeks to control photosynthetic organisms turning them into augmented environmental sensing devices and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies.
About the speaker: Juan Pablo Giraldo is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Riverside. Dr. Giraldo is also a Co-Investigator of the National Science Foundation (NSF) Center for Sustainable Nanotechnology. He received his Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University (2011) and two Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Physics from University of Los Andes (Bogota, Colombia). As an NSF Postdoctoral Fellow, he developed nanotechnology approaches for engineering plants in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2011-2015). His research group develops nanotechnology tools to study and engineer photosynthetic organisms. Dr. Giraldo has authored more than 50 peer reviewed journal articles, reviews, and patents (h-index 28). The Giraldo research group has been supported by multiple awards ($4M) from NSF Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Chemistry divisions, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). His research team is also funded by industry grants (BASF) to translate targeted nanocarrier research into commercial technologies.

Abstract: Nucleic acid testing is decisive for the diagnosis and treatment monitoring of infectious diseases. Over the last years, particularly the (re)emergence outbreak of infectious diseases (such as COVID-19 caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2) further stimulates the development of novel tools for nucleic acid diagnostics. Beside its wide application in gene editing, CRISPR technology provides a powerful method for the highly sensitive and selective quantification of nucleic acids. In this talk, first a short introduction into the CRISPR-powered diagnostics will be given. Then, an electrochemical microfluidic multiplexed biosensor (BiosensorX) for CRISPR-powered point-of-care diagnostics of COVID-19 will be presented. Without any target amplification, CRISPR-BiosensorX offers a low-cost, easily scalable and multiplexed approach for on-site diagnostics of nucleic acids and other biomolecule classes (such as drugs like ß-lactam antibiotics) simultaneously.
About the speaker: Dr. Can Dincer is currently junior research group leader at FIT & IMTEK of the University of Freiburg. The main research interest of his group “Disposable Microsystems” is the development of bioanalytical materials/sensors/microsystems and their combination with data science and artificial intelligence for various applications including diagnostics, especially for point-of-care diagnostics and wearables, food and environmental monitoring. Having completed his studies in microsystems engineering, he received in 2016 his PhD degree with honor from the University of Freiburg. Between June 2017 and June 2019, Dr. Dincer also worked as a visiting researcher at the Department of Bioengineering at the Imperial College London. Since September 2019, he is also an Associate Editor of the journal “Biosensors and Bioelectronics” (Elsevier). In June 2022, Dr. Dincer has joined to the International Advisory Board of the journal “Advanced Sensor Research” (Wiley).