SBIR Phase II: An Interactive Graphical Application for Next-Generation Surveillance of Hospital-Acquired Infections using Whole Genome Sequencing and Advanced Analytics

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will be a user-friendly and scalable infection control surveillance software platform using advanced biotech and data analytics for monitoring hospital-acquired infection. There is a significant clinical problem in hospitals, where 1 in 25 people who check in will develop a hospital acquired infection. Currently, hospital infection control practitioners (ICPs) have few analytical tools to identify the source of these infections, which can be deadly and cost the health care industry an estimate of $45 billion year. The innovation under development harnesses advanced epidemiological approaches in an easy-to-use application that will enable ICPs to use bacterial genetics as a means to monitor infectious spread within their system so that their sources can be eliminated. The intellectual merit of this SBIR Phase II proposal is to develop an infection control surveillance software system using whole-genome sequencing of pathogens and advanced data analytics. The innovation addresses the critical lack of accessible genetic analysis applications designed for local infection control surveillance. Hospitals are observing ever increasing rates of antibiotic resistant infections. These are expensive, endanger patients, and are becoming harder to trace as medical care becomes more complex and spread over multiple facilities. Unfortunately, ICPs have few new tools, other than best hygiene practices, to reduce their mounting infection rates. Decades of research has revealed that epidemiological surveillance using genetic analysis provides a robust level of pathogen traceability; however, this knowledge has not been transferred into hospitals where it is critically needed, due to a lack of technical infrastructure and analytical accessibility. In this Phase II project, the goal is to complete the development of a software application that will enable ICPs to easily and accurately process bacterial genetic data in their own offices and generate rich, meaningful and easy to interpret reports concerning bacterial spread in their networks. ICPs will be warned when infection sources relate to each other, suggesting that a deeper investigation is needed. The result is that infection sources, which are currently missed, will be proactively identified and targeted. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.