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ECE PhD Prospectus: Elisa Chiodi
Title: Dynamic characterization of multi-scale analytes in diverse solutions through interferometric imaging
Presenter: Elisa Chiodi
Advisor: Professor Selim Unlu (ECE, MSE, BME)
Chair: Prof. Anna Swan (ECE, Physics, MSE)
Committee: Prof. Irving J. Bigio (ENG, BME); Dott. Marcella Chiari, Institute of Chemistry of Molecular Recognition (ICRM)
Abstract: Characterizing the binding kinetics of intrinsically diverse chemical compounds is one of the major challenges when developing new treatments and diagnostic procedures. Drugs and biomarkers can span multiple orders of magnitude in size, from small molecules (≈100Da) to biological nanoparticles (≈MDa). Additionally, these samples are often dissolved in non-trivial solutions, such as dilutions of high refractive index solvents or bodily fluids. In this report, we describe the latest iteration of the Interferometric Reflectance Imaging Sensor (IRIS), where improvements both on the hardware and on the signal processing side have been made, finally achieving the ability to study a wide range of highly diverse analytes, both for molar mass and solution composition. First, we demonstrate the characterization of a corn toxin, fumonisin B1 (722 Da), binding to a multiplexed antibody chip, and we briefly describe the signal processing methods applied to achieve the sensitivity level needed for small molecule detection. Next, we apply the improved sensor to the characterization of Extracellular Vesicles (EVs, ≈MDa), a complex sample both for size diversity and solution composition. Then, we compare a commercially available drug to treat Wet Age-related Macular Degeneration (wAMD) with a biosimilar compound by showing their affinity similarity when binding the Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF-A, ≈20kDa) in a high-refractive index solution due to high concentration of protein. Finally, we propose further sensitivity improvements, as well as detection and characterization of biomarkers in diluted bodily fluids, such as saliva and serum, fully demonstrating the versatility and wide applicability of the IRIS system in the field of biomedical research and biomarker discovery.
| When | 10:00 am to 12:00 pm on Wednesday, January 27, 2021 |
|---|---|
| Location | https://bostonu.zoom.us/j/93774486337?pwd=K2duNlA4SVE5V2JISHRLUmxMN0FxQT09 |