JASON DWYER received a three-year, $464,964 grant from the National Science Foundation for his two decades of work in nanopore technology. Dwyer, a professor of chemistry and associate dean for research and graduate studies at the University of Rhode Island’s College of Arts and Sciences, will use the grant to develop new tools to better understand how to fabricate and use a powerful new class of nanopore sensors. He hopes this work will help improve the ability to detect serious medical conditions more cost-effectively. Dwyer’s goal is to use nanopore sensors for biomedical diagnostics, scientific tests and technologies to detect, diagnose and monitor diseases and other health conditions. By taking various bodily fluid samples, the sensors can analyze each part of a molecule and complex protein structures, allowing for early diagnosis.
What are some key areas in your work that can move forward with the grant money? We’re most excited about enabling the advancement of nanopore technology by developing tools and approaches that drive a virtuous cycle of discovery and application by us and others. Building on our patented methods to chemically coat our nanopores, we will carefully formulate the correct coating composition to support specific application areas and sample targets. This research combines exploration and validation, and expands the scope of samples and applications, such as examining proteins as biomarkers of disease.
What is the primary barrier to nanopore technologies becoming cost effective in the medical field? How do you plan to overcome this? While there are a host of costs in developing and selling medical diagnostics, the relative simplicity of our nanopore platform offers advantages for cost effectiveness. Nanopore devices for DNA sequencing are already on the market, but our competing solid-state platform offers compelling advantages for both performance and cost. The platform and approaches we are advancing are compatible with existing nano- and micro-fabrication foundries to readily manufacture devices at consumer scale.
In terms of workforce development, what specific skill outcomes for Ph.D./undergrad trainees will be needed? Working at the crossroads of fundamental discovery, application and commercialization, we need to be interdisciplinary in our skill set and mindset – listening to both the market and the molecules.
As we advance the technology using technical skills spanning nanofabrication, machine learning, materials science and analytical chemistry, we are continuously mindful of product design and end-user needs such as cost, reliability, usability and robustness.
What are some of the other intended uses for this technology, in terms of screening, diagnostic, or monitoring? Anything outside the clinical field? Routine health screening, disease diagnosis and ongoing health monitoring are all within the scope of the nanopore devices’ performance profile.
Application horizons go beyond the clinic to include pharmaceutical quality assurance, homeland security monitoring and screening, and environmental stewardship.
