Tamara Slipchenko
$170,998
Stephan C SchΓΌrer
Helena Solo-Gabriele
UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI CORAL GABLES
Florida
NIH Office of the Director
We propose portable, proven, point of care/surveillance devices for use in SARS-CoV-2 testing that expands upon the TINY (Tiny Isothermal Nucleic acid quantification sYstem) , which is called the MINI. These devices leverage LAMP (loop mediated isothermal amplification) technology developed by the Mason Lab in collaboration with technological developments from the Erickson lab to test up to 96 samples in real time. These devices can operate in areas without existing medical infrastructure with portability and high throughput, filling an existing gap in the current SARS-CoV-2 testing infrastructure. We also envision these devices as filling a necessary gap in COVID-19 surveillance, leveraging pilot studies in detecting SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses in sewage to monitor the evolution of the pandemic in the coming years and building an infrastructure to better monitor and predict future viral outbreaks. A 96 well version of our existing TINY detection device, called the MINI, will be deployed at large scale to develop surveillance and point of care testing for SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater, saliva, and other samples. This technology is accompanied by an easy to use software package for exporting and preserving results that can be installed on any computer. This technology is able to screen the most prevalent circulating COVID-19 variants by targeting the viral envelope gene (E) and RNAse P (RP) gene. These methods can help with the current COVID-19 outbreak and aid in future risk management and pathogen mapping.