Green to lead $17.7 million DARPA project analyzing biomarkers to assess readiness for physically and mentally challenging tasks
By Patrick L. Kennedy
You’re due to run a grueling road race in a few hours. Do you have the stuff to make it across the finish line or will you crash before the end? Or maybe you’ve got a ballet recital or a poker tournament or a big speech—some demanding physical or cognitive challenge is looming, and you need to know that your brain and body are up to it. What if, instead of relying on a vague gut feeling, you could turn to cold, hard data?
That’s the goal of a multi-institutional, cross-disciplinary project led by Associate Professor Alexander A. Green (BME). With up to $17.7 million in federal funds over four years, Green and his colleagues plan to develop a fast, portable saliva test that will analyze an assortment of biomarkers associated with performance on challenging tasks. It could be used to test readiness and the likelihood of success—with results in just 30 minutes.
The project is funded by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which aims to develop a test that will one day save lives and dollars by predicting soldiers’ performance on missions. For example, if a pilot isn’t in the optimal zone, that’s good information to have, allowing the mission team to take extra precautions. The project’s formal name is Smart Paper-Integrated Technologies for Interrogating Readiness (SPITFIRE).
Like the internet, microwave ovens, and aviator sunglasses, Green’s test ultimately might gain use far beyond the military.
Read the full story at BU’s The Brink.
Photo by Steven Lelham on Unsplash