Steacie Fellowship RTI - Wireless Nanotechnology Sensor for Global Surveillance

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My vision is to engineer a handheld wireless device capable of detecting and tracking the spread of pathogens. I plan to integrate nanotechnology, molecular targets, wireless technology to create the first generation of handheld molecular "telediagnostic" devices that can diagnose infectious pathogens from remote areas. Many of the current handheld molecular sensors are not useful for diagnosing pathogens in the developing world because of poor sensitivity and specificity, high cost, they are too large to be transported, or are operational complex and require skilled technicians. None of these devices can rapidly track and monitor the spread of pathogens within an ecosystem. This can have dire consequences. Canadians have observed the SARS epidemic crisis, invasion of fungi killing flowering dogwood trees in Ontario, and the Mad Cow disease outbreak in Alberta cattle in the past decade. The ability to streamline the diagnosis and tracking process of pathogens would enable a more effective strategy to contain epidemics. This could potentially preserve plant species, save the lives of many people, and reduce economic burden on workers that were exposed or to the public health care system. We will combine nanotechnology on surfaces with cell phone technology to analyze a multitude of molecular biomarkers simultaneously. Here we request support for a high-end flow cytometer system that would allow us to characterize our nanotechnology (e.g, quantum dots designed for detecting multiple targets) that would are an important component of our molecular sensor system.