Chemist wins grant to develop meningitis diagnostic tool

University of Texas El Paso (TX, USA) researcher is awarded US$ 419,000 grant to develop rapid, low-cost, meningitis diagnostic device.

Xiujun (James) Li has been awarded the sum of US$ 419,000 from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (MD, USA) for the study and development of an efficient and low-cost meningitis diagnostic tool. Li will be assisted by doctoral student, Maowei Dou and undergraduate researcher, Alejandra Valadez. According to Li, “We will develop paper-based biochips for low-cost and rapid multiplexed meningitis diagnosis; it is expected to be as simple as pregnancy test strips.”

Currently, the diagnosis of meningitis is time consuming and requires specialized equipment in laboratories. Often, many of these outbreaks are in high-poverty areas and as meningitis can become fatal within 24 hours of symptom presentation, the development of a low-cost, portable device is essential. The research group will develop a small, paper-based ‘lab-on-a-chip’ device that integrates multiple functions onto a microchip.

Li explains, “The use of a paper-based micro-system will enable more low-cost, point-of-care testing with potential impacts on affordable diagnostics for developing nations.”

Source: Chemist to develop more rapid, low-cost diagnosis for meningitis.