2019 Baker Institute News: CTAM grant supports development of new diagnostic technology

This news item is about: Baker researchers have received a $50,000 grant from the Cornell Technology Acceleration and Maturation (CTAM) Fund, to further develop their “tethered enzyme technology” as a rapid diagnostic tool. Dr. Roy Cohen, a research assistant professor and Dr. Alexander Travis, professor of Reproductive Biology, are developing a new system for diagnosing disease that uses disposable testing cards to analyze a drop of blood. The test takes minutes and can detect a wide variety of disease biomarkers including proteins, ions, metabolites, toxins, and nucleic acids such as microRNAs. Though Cohen and Travis are still in the testing and development phase, they envision that this technology could be the basis for a point-of-care testing device for use on ambulances, battlefields or anywhere lacking access to medical testing