Microfluidic Tools for Bioanalysis

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Microfluidics, the study and applications of fluid flow in microfabricated devices with micrometer-sized features, has become popular for chemists, engineers, biologists, physicists, and clinicians because of the advantages of reduced reagent consumption and analysis time, the capacity to integrate multiple functions onto a single device, and the potential for high-throughput analysis. Here, we propose to develop new tools relying on a particular form of microfluidics known as "digital microfluidics" (DMF). In DMF, the positions and volumes of sample and reagent droplets are precisely controlled through the application of electrodynamic forces on an array of electrodes. This NSERC Discovery-grant proposal outlines a broad research program unified by the theme of the development of DMF-enabled methods for bioanalysis, spanning two streams: (1) combining sample processing with detection, and (2) integration of cell culture and analysis. The work described in stream 1 will lead to powerful new "sample in, analysis out" techniques outside (implementing immunoassays with portable photometric detectors) and inside (using powerful methods like nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy) of the laboratory. The work described in stream 2 will enable investigators in the life sciences to ask questions related to regeneration in the central nervous system after stroke, transcriptome changes in early-stage metastasis, and the relatively recently observed phenomenon of cell-cell entosis. Thus, this program is poised to have significant impact on basic and applied science, with potential long-term benefits for human health. Perhaps equally as importantly, this grant will directly support the training of six graduate students and will indirectly benefit several others. These trainees will be mentored in a positive, interdisciplinary environment, and will emerge as the next generation of Canadian scientists, inventors, and job creators.