Advanced Materials and Methods for Biospecimen Collection for Infectious Disease

There is an urgent need for simple, reliable and effective tools for improved biospecimen collection, preservation and extraction of low-abundance analytes for improved detection and diagnostic assays. To address the DoD's need for clinical and field deployable biospecimen collection materials for infectious diseases, Ceres Nanosciences (Ceres) in collaboration with GMU's National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases propose to develop rapid Nanotrap extraction methods and ambient temperature storage solutions for improved collection and recovery of respiratory viruses. In Phase I, Ceres will build upon successful preliminary results, which demonstrate Nanotrap-enabled sequestration, concentration and nearly complete yield of fully infectious respiratory viruses, by optimizing key Nanotrap architecture parameters, extraction methods and collection protocols. A prototype field kit for live virus capture will be produced and performance data will be collected for at least four common respiratory infections.