Project Grant 2200186

This three-year, $446,377 National Science Foundation project grant supports the development of new technologies for the detection of emerging microbial threats at Purdue University. Funded through NSF's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), the "SENTINELS: Living-Tissue for Doppler Detection of Emerging Microbial Threats" project will apply Biodynamic Doppler Profiling to detect bacterial and viral infections in living tissue samples. Researchers aim to enhance the sensitivity of the "sentinel" living cells to detect lower-level infections, build a library of sentinel response profiles, conduct antibiotic resistance assays, and demonstrate the first detection of viral tissue infections. The project also focuses on outreach, engaging undergraduates including underrepresented groups in research experiences and developing classroom experiments on intracellular motility imaging for middle and high school students. This award advances NSF's goals of supporting innovative engineering research and broader societal impacts through education.