Events Calendar

Alfred E. Mann Department of Biomedical Engineering

Speaker: Dr. Hadley Sikes, Ph.D., The Willard Henry Dow Professor and Graduate Officer in Chemical Engineering, and PI in the Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Research Group in Singapores CREATE campus MIT

Talk Title: Protein and reaction engineering for accessible, scalable medical diagnostics

Abstract: Paper-based medical diagnostic tests have an appealingly low cost of goods and can be very simple to operate. However, new tests typically take months to a year or more to develop, driving up costs. A longstanding focus in our lab has been developing and applying an engineering design approach to new medical diagnostic tests. One of the slow and expensive steps in developing diagnostic immunoassays is identification of pairs, or sets in the case of multiplexed assays, of affinity reagents that simultaneously bind non-overlapping target epitopes and also do not cross-react with one another or complex matrix components. Engineered binding molecules derived from a thermophilic organism will be presented as alternatives to antibodies, human or camelid, along with a method for selecting pairs or sets of these reagents for diagnostic immunoassays. Analysis of reaction rates and fluid flow within paper-based tests suggested further protein engineering strategies to improve sensitivity. Generalized assay design principles for integrating these engineered proteins into antigen and serology tests will be discussed, as well as innovations in scalable manufacturing of test formats beyond conventional lateral flow tests. Finally, key elements of the commercialization process for new diagnostic tests will be presented, including protection of intellectual property, technology transfer to partners, manufacturing under ISO13485 certification, usability and clinical testing, and regulatory filings.

Biography: Hadley D. Sikes is the Willard Henry Dow Professor and Graduate Officer in Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a PI in the Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Research Group in Singapores CREATE campus. She advises a team of researchers in the application of physical principles to design, synthesize, characterize, and test molecules for utility in detecting and understanding disease.  Hadley earned degrees in chemistry, a BS at Tulane University (D.K. Schwartz lab) and a PhD Stanford University (C.E.D. Chidsey lab) and trained as a postdoctoral scholar in chemical engineering at the University of Colorado, Boulder (C.N. Bowman lab), and at the California Institute of Technology (F.H. Arnold lab) prior to joining the faculty at MIT. Hadley is an Associate Editor at Bioengineering and Translational Medicine.

Host: Maral Mousavi

Location: Olin Hall of Engineering (OHE) - 100B

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Carla Stanard