Daniel Richards receives BRIDGE Discovery Grant
BRIDGE, the funding initiative of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and Innosuisse, reviewed 108 applications and ultimately approved 15 innovation projects, including Daniel Richard's project (deMello Group).?The project is supported with CHF 2.5 million. The chemist intends to use the funding to develop affordable, portable, and rapid diagnostic technology for tuberculosis.
Tuberculosis (TB), historically known as the ‘white death’, claims an estimated 1.25 million lives each year, making it the deadliest infectious disease in the world. 98 % of TB cases worldwide occur in low- and middle-income countries, with devastating consequences. These include the misuse of antibiotics to treat TB. In the most affected regions, drug resistance in recurrent infections has risen to over 50 %.
Most TB deaths could be prevented by early diagnosis. Unfortunately, current technologies have proven insufficient. This is particularly true for point-of-care laboratory diagnostics, i.e. rapid tests. That is why researchers from ETH Zurich, The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH), and the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM), led by ETH Senior Scientist Daniel Richards, want to use the BRIDGE Discovery Grant to develop an affordable, portable, and rapid diagnostic technology.
Just one single sample would be needed to test 14 targets for TB and associated markers for drug resistance in parallel. The technology is to be paper-based to facilitate miniaturization and will leverage electrochemical signaling to provide quantitative measurements. The researchers plan to use the ETH-patented laser-induced graphenization of cellulose to develop these tests. Production is inexpensive, scalable, and fast – ideal for rapid test kits.
Furthermore, the scientists want to combine this technology with new CRISPR-Cas-based assays to facilitate the detection of drug resistance. The combination of paper-based graphenized electrodes and CRISPR-Cas enables the detection of TB in blood rather than sputum, which significantly improves accessibility.
Daniel Richards feels honored to receive the BRIDGE Discovery Grant: “It will fund the crucial first step on a career-long journey of tackling the growing problem of antimicrobial resistance. The consortium will build upon our patented electrofluidic technology to develop, manufacture, and field-evaluate a rapid test for multidrug-resistant tuberculosis.”
With its core aim of bridging the gap between fundamental research and applied science, the BRIDGE Discovery scheme is the perfect vehicle for this project. “I want to thank Professor Andrew deMello, without whom none of this would have been possible, as well as ETH Zurich and the SNSF, for supporting this ambitious project”, says Daniel Richards.
Since 2017, BRIDGE funding has been supporting scientists whose work has the potential to lead to innovative products or services. The funding helps to identify this potential and accelerate the transfer of the products to industry and society.
Daniel Richards graduated from the University of York and completed his doctorate at the University College London (UCL). After postdoctoral positions at UCL and Imperial College London, he joined the deMello group as a Marie Sk?odowska-Curie Fellow in 2020, where he established his research exploring how biochemical systems and functional materials can be engineered to create new biosensors. His research has been supported by the ERC, SNSF, Innosuisse, ETH 4 Development, Engineering 4 Development, the BRCCH, and SERI.
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