Federal Project Grant Award Summary

The University of Washington received a $418,378 Project Grant award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859), effective June 1, 2026, with completion targeted for February 28, 2031. This award supports the development of multiplexed optical sensors for quantitative redox profiling in human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived disease models. The research program will deliver three primary product lines: (1) a fully multiplexed, intensity-based redox sensor suite to simultaneously monitor oxidative pressure and antioxidant capacity at single-cell resolution in real time; (2) lifetime-resolved redox biosensors utilizing fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) to enable expression-independent quantification of intracellular redox states; and (3) single-cell optical phenotyping applications for disease modeling and drug screening in iPSC-derived systems, including neurons and cardiomyocytes.

These products address critical gaps in tools for monitoring reactive oxygen species (ROS) and redox pathway dynamics in living human cells by building on the investigator's prior development of advanced genetically encoded hydrogen peroxide sensors (OROS-G and OROS-HT). The research directly supports NIGMS's mission to advance understanding of biological processes and establish foundations for improvements in disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention by enabling improved detection and analysis of redox dysregulation in neurodegenerative diseases, muscular degeneration, and drug-induced cardiotoxicity.