Project Grant 20173361026653

This $256,000 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Division of Industrial Innovation, under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), funds the development of a rapid, simple, and low-cost Salmonella detection and quantification test. Secure Food Solutions, Incorporated will optimize a multi-layer 96-well microplate method to demonstrate 90% sensitivity and specificity for Salmonella in raw poultry and processing environment samples within 15 hours without pre-enrichment. They...

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) / Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program (CFDA 10.212) provides $649,763 to Varigen Biosciences Corp to develop the AQPATHDX kit. This novel multiplex molecular diagnostic assay enables rapid, on-site detection of the most common catfish and tilapia pathogens in less than 30 minutes. The AQPATHDX kit utilizes...

This Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (CFDA 47.084 - NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships) provides $550,000 to the University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc. to develop a prototype for rapid diagnosis of foodborne pathogens. The goal is to create a new one-test screening method that can identify bacterial contaminants in food in less than an hour, compared to current multi-step tests that take hours or days. This rapid diagnostic technology is aimed at...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded a $689,028.47 Project Grant under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) to the Regents of the University of California at Riverside. The grant will fund the development and evaluation of a nanoliter reactor that can digitalize and detect nucleic acid amplification-based techniques in a portable format. The goal is to enable rapid detection of foodborne pathogens from food...

The National Science Foundation awarded Aqua Science LLC a $255,751 Project Grant under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program to develop new enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) for detecting per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in soil and water. The grant period runs from April 15, 2022 through March 31, 2023. Under this award, Aqua Science will develop novel ELISAs to detect perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), two prevalent...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Project Grant award for $380,074, awarded on September 1, 2024, aims to develop a platform for instrument-free, easy-to-interpret quantitative analysis of molecular biomarkers. The project will produce a general methodology adaptable to a range of molecular targets, including potential new agents. The key products to be delivered include: A "yes/no" output for quantitative measurement, enabled through stoichiometry and negative cooperativity-based...

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) under the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) program provides $591,497 to Missouri State University to develop a smartphone-based lateral flow assay (LFA) technology for the rapid, sensitive, and accurate detection of Salmonella in food samples. The goal is to create a simple, field-based test that can be used across the food supply chain to enhance public health...

This $150,000 Project Grant awarded by the United States Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA NIFA) under the Capacity Building Grants for Non-Land Grant Colleges of Agriculture (CFDA 10.326) program aims to develop a novel digital PCR assay for detecting and quantifying Salmonella contamination in beef samples. The key products to be delivered through this 2-year project include: A new diagnostic assay capable of detecting Salmonella and quantifying its...

This federal Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) provides $308,000 in funding to Purdue University to develop new diagnostic technologies for detecting the Cyclospora cayetanensis parasite, which often contaminates produce and can lead to disease outbreaks. The key objectives are to: (1) discover DNA aptamers that can specifically recognize and bind to Cyclospora cayetanensis, and (2) integrate these aptamers into a paper-based...

The University of Florida (UF), through its Division of Sponsored Research, was awarded a $420,604.39 Project Grant from the Department of Agriculture's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) to develop a novel system for fast and reliable detection of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms in food. The proposed work includes developing a paper chromogenic array enabled by machine learning to detect and quantify the seven most common food pathogens and spoilage microbes across...