Project Grant R43IP001142

This Project Grant from the National Science Foundation's Engineering Directorate (NSF ENG) provides $249,829 to Northeastern University to develop an integrated platform for high accuracy measurements of viral particle count and infectious titer. The platform will combine nano-pore technology to identify viral particles based on biophysical properties with single-molecule RNA fluorescence in situ hybridization to discriminate individual molecules of viral RNA in infected cells. This will enable...

This $788,406 project grant from the National Institutes of Health National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, under the Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.855), will fund the development of a sensitive, direct reading bioaerosol detection platform to quantify airborne pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2. Aerosol Devices Inc. will integrate their gentle condensation-growth capture sampler, which concentrates intact, viable virus particles into a small liquid volume...

Micropure Genomics Inc. received a $274,199 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation to advance methods for rapid, end-to-end sample preparation for sequencing applications. Under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084), the company will develop an automated process relying on electro-hydrodynamic trapping to isolate genomic material like DNA or RNA from cells in a flow cartridge. The process aims to significantly reduce preparation time while...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) Project Grant award for $275,000 will support the development of a plasmonic nanopore sensor device for quality control of adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) used in gene therapy. The proposed device will enable accurate characterization of AAV payload (single-stranded DNA, double-stranded DNA, or empty) at low, pre-scale-up concentrations to optimize formulations. The project aims to demonstrate the...

The National Science Foundation awarded the University of Illinois a $100,000 project grant under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program to develop an aerial virus detector system. The university will use the one-year award ending June 2023 to create a portable device that can directly detect airborne COVID-19 and other viral particles. The proposed technology integrates a COVID-reactive surface with a sensitive detection mechanism to identify the presence of a virus particle...

The National Science Foundation awarded a $230,000 Project Grant to the Regents of the University of Minnesota under the Engineering federal grant program (CFDA 47.041) to develop a biosensing platform for rapid sorting, trapping, and analysis of extracellular vesicles and viral specimens. Over a three-year period ending in August 2025, the University will combine graphene electrodes and photonic waveguides to create a "waveguide-integrated graphene nano-tweezers" platform. This...

The Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences will develop a novel microencapsulation-based technology for whole genome sequencing of RNA viruses from ocean environments under a two-year, $599,048 Project Grant from the National Science Foundation Division of Ocean Sciences' Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050). The laboratory aims to address the pressing need for direct quantification methods for small RNA viruses in marine samples, which play a major role in microbial ecology and evolution but are...

The National Science Foundation (NSF), under its Engineering program (CFDA 47.041), awarded a $429,832 Project Grant to the University of Massachusetts (UMass) to develop a novel method for rapid and sensitive detection of nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA. The main objectives of the 5-year project are to: Determine the nanomechanoelectrical transduction principle of nucleic-acid nanostructures tethered to a graphene transistor and oscillating in an electric field. Achieve rapid,...

The National Science Foundation awarded a $250,000 Project Grant to the University of Pittsburgh under the Engineering federal grant program (CFDA 47.041) to develop a biosensor platform for rapidly sorting and analyzing nanoscale vesicles and viruses. The three-year award will support the design and demonstration of a waveguide-integrated graphene nano-tweezers platform that combines transparent dielectrophoretic graphene electrodes and silicon nitride photonic waveguides. By integrating...

Numentus Technologies Inc. received a $303,685 Project Grant award from the National Science Foundation on February 15, 2021 to develop rapid planar PCR technology for COVID-19 testing. The award was made under the NSF's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to support innovation and excellence in engineering research. Through this funding, Numentus will work to advance the development of planar PCR, a technology that enables highly sensitive COVID-19 detection on a single integrated testing...