Next-Generation Enabling Technologies Towards Precision and Personalized Medicine

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This research program aims to develop a generalizable, real-time biosensor to enable continuous monitoring of a diverse range of disease-related biomarkers, and to facilitate simultaneous delivery of the right drug dosage. This integrated device will eventually enable truly personalized medicine through continuous monitoring of individual patient conditions, allowing physicians to tailor specific medical treatments to an individual's unique molecular and/or genetic profile. Real-time monitoring faces exceptional challenges: 1) A tiny volume of complex biofluids must be handled; 2) High sensitivity and specificity are required; 3) The platform must be generalizable to various analytes; 4) Multiplexed measurements must be performed; and 5) The biosensor must be implemented as a point-of-care platform for bedside monitoring. Due to these unmet challenges, currently, there is no sensor technology that can measure multiple disease biomarkers directly in whole blood and in real-time and simultaneously administer the right drug dosage at the right time. This research program will develop a new platform that meets these challenges, where novel microfluidic techniques will be combined with advanced optical imaging. The platform is called "RT-Sensing&Delivery" as it consists of two main modules: sensing and drug delivery. We will pursue three integrated objectives to achieve our goals: O1. Design and implementation of the "sensing module"; O2. Creating an automated and robust "drug delivery module"; O3. Expanding the multiplexed capability of the platform. These short-term goals will be important to the attainment of our long-term goal of advancing the field of personalized medicine through a universal biosensor platform which continuously tracks and detects multiple disease-related biomarkers' fluctuating concentration levels and achieves precise and personalized drug dosing. The RT-Sensing&Delivery device will consequently enable many potentially transformative applications in medicine as it introduces a general tool for measuring proteins, small molecules and other biomolecules and can be implemented in the biomedical research such as infectious diseases, neuroscience, immunology, cancer, and others. It also helps to maintain high quality healthcare in Canada, where healthcare costs contribute to more than 10% of the gross domestic product. This research program will contribute to the training of next generation of innovators and pioneers in the field of biomedical engineering and provide students with the required technical and soft skillsets (i.e., micro/nanotechnology techniques, device fabrication, molecular analysis, information processing, circuit design, optical imaging, rational thinking to solve problems, managing and leading individual projects, and collaboration) to take roles in industry, academic research, and entrepreneurship