The overall goal of this Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program grant is to develop inexpensive and portable biosensors for rapid, sensitive and specific label-free multiplexed biomolecular detection. The possibility of miniaturizing biosensing systems which use miniscule quantities of expensive reagents and precious samples, provide faster analyses to patients and doctors, and do not require a trained technician to operate has immediate applications in preventing disease in developing countries, biowarfare/anti-terrorism applications, environmental monitoring, point-of-care diagnostic testing and for basic biological research.
A major obstacle towards accomplishing this goal is the lack of an available biosensor that is rapid, sensitive and specific to small concentrations of target biomolecules, yet does not require the labeling of probes or optical microscopy, and can operate without the need for complex and bulky supporting instrumentation. This project will address existing challenges by focusing on the development of novel electrokinetic biosensors for biomolecular detection at liquid interfaces.
