PFI-RP: BioSPACE: Biosensing Surveillance of Pathogens in Aquaculture and Coastal Environments

该创新-研究伙伴关系（PFI-RP）项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是在持续暴露于致病病原体的情况下加强公共安全和水产养殖业的经济复原力。在美国和全球范围内，水生病原体每年造成数十亿美元的医疗保健费用和水产养殖损失。该项目将加速开发和应用一个易于使用和低成本的技术平台，提供卓越的便携性，灵敏度和速度，以检测水源中的病原体。预期的社会和商业效益包括：向地方和国家机构发出关于沿海沃茨中存在病原体的预警信号，防止人类接触和疾病传播，提供一种可最大限度地减少病原体对水产养殖的经济影响的技术，为公共安全和生态系统健康进行低成本和持续的病原体监测，和跨学科的学习机会，为学生从代表性不足的社区在干，以丰富他们的创业经验和领导能力，在商业发展的设置。拟议的项目推进应用一种新的生物传感-基于数据分析平台的水产养殖和基于水的环境监测。定期监测病原体对于保障公众和生态系统健康以及支持水产养殖的可持续性和市场增长至关重要。然而，迫切需要为农民和环境机构建立低成本但敏感的监测系统，以便在疾病爆发前追踪来源和快速检测致病病原体。该项目将采用获得专利的生物传感技术，对水生病原体进行实时检测和量化，并预测爆发风险。该研究的目的是评估生物传感器在各种环境设置中部署时的灵敏度，特异性和稳定性。这将涉及现场测试，以优化生物传感器的性能，并整合机器学习方法来解释传感器数据，以在具有挑战性的水生环境中保持准确性。这些发展将大大提高我们在沿海环境和水产养殖业中监测水生病原体的能力。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Partnerships for Innovation – Research Partnerships (PFI-RP) project is to enhance public safety and the economic resilience of our aquaculture industry in the face of ongoing exposures to disease-causing pathogens. Waterborne pathogens cost billions in annual healthcare costs and aquaculture losses in the United States and globally. This project will accelerate the development and application of an easy-to-use and low-cost technological platform offering excellent portability, sensitivity, and speed to detect pathogens from water sources. The anticipated societal and commercial benefits include early warning signals to local and state agencies about the presence of pathogens in coastal waters, preventing human contact and disease spread, an accessible technology that can minimize the economic impacts of pathogens on aquaculture, low-cost and continuous pathogen surveillance for public safety and ecosystem health, and interdisciplinary learning opportunities for students from underrepresented communities in STEM to enrich their entrepreneurship experience and leadership in a business development setting.The proposed project advances the application of a novel biosensing-based data analytics platform for aquaculture and water-based environmental monitoring. Regular monitoring for pathogens is critical in safeguarding public and ecosystem health, and in supporting aquaculture sustainability and market growth. However, there is a strong need for low-cost yet sensitive surveillance systems for farmers and environmental agencies for source-tracking and rapid detection of disease-causing pathogens before outbreaks occur. The project will adapt the patented biosensing technology for real-time detection and quantification of aquatic pathogens and forecasting of outbreak risks. The objectives of the research are to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, and stability of the biosensor when deployed in various environmental settings. This will involve field tests to optimize the performance of the biosensor, and the integration of machine learning methods for interpreting sensor data to maintain accuracy in challenging aquatic environments. These developments will substantially improve our ability to monitor waterborne pathogens in coastal environments and in the aquaculture industry.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.