Engineering PhD student set for success
Swansea University Engineering PhD student Zari Tehrani has presented her research at the recent Set for Britain poster competition and exhibition in the House of Commons.
Set for Britain, which is organised by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee together with the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Institute of Physics and the Institute of Biology, aims to encourage, support and promote Britain's early-stage and early-career research scientists, engineers and technologists.
Zari, who is supervised by Dr Owen Guy in the University's Centre for Nanohealth (CNH), was selected to present her work on Fabrication of Ultrasensitive Nano-Biosensors.
Development of miniaturised systems (biosensors) for detection of disease biomarkers is key in the early diagnosis and monitoring of diseases. The bio-chip sensors being developed at CNH at Swansea University will enable detection of these biomarkers at ultra-low concentrations.
Zari's work is focused on developing a specific sensor – fabricated by functionalising a conductive nanochannel surface with an antibody biomarker, which is indicative of prostate cancer risk.
This biomarker is present, at low levels, in urine and the project will develop a sensor capable of detecting the biomarker at these clinically relevant concentrations.
In the future, sensors for detection of other disease biomarkers in breath, urine, saliva and blood could be developed.
Zari said: "We hope to test our first batch of prototype sensors for the prostate cancer marker in the next month or so. If that is successful, we can then develop bio-chips for detection of other bio-molecules."
Dr Owen Guy said: "The ultimate goal is the development of arrays of nanoscale sensors for multiple disease biomarkers on the same chip. This would represent a major breakthrough in diagnostic technology."
The project at CNH is linked with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Grand Challenge in Nanotechnology for Healthcare project, led by Professor Rhodri Williams in Swansea's School of Engineering.
This £1.9million project, ranked first in the UK in the EPSRC's priority order for funding, is developing a point-of-care instrument for the early detection of potentially dangerous incipient blood clots.
Dr Guy's group are developing microneedle and microfluidic systems to transport tiny volumes of blood to the nano-sensor. Following biomarker detection, the sensor will then signal a drug delivery mechanism to administer the correct dose of the therapeutic drug.
For further information about the Centre for Nanohealth visit http://www.swansea.ac.uk/engineering/NanoHealth/.