Our research spans the full arc of translational sensing: from the rational design of DNA-based molecular devices to their deployment in living systems, miniaturized organs and point-of-care platforms.
In vivo biosensing(Continuous, real-time molecular measurements in the living body)
Imagine a clinician who could see a patient’s drug levels evolve in real time, the way we monitor heart rate today, and adjust the dose accordingly. That is the vision driving this research line.
We develop electrochemical aptamer-based (EAB) sensors: indwelling sensors that measure the concentration of drugs and metabolites continuously and in real time, directly in the body, with a resolution of a few seconds. Because they are reagentless and reversible, these sensors can follow rising and falling concentrations for hours, in blood and in interstitial fluid. We are advancing this platform on several fronts: from minimally invasive, microneedle-based wearable formats for therapeutic drug monitoring, to strategies that improve sensor stability and accuracy in whole blood, with the long-term goal of enabling truly personalized, feedback-controlled therapies.
DNA Nanotechnology & Molecular Design
DNA is much more than the carrier of genetic information: it is a programmable construction material. Its predictable base-pairing rules let us design synthetic receptors, switches and scaffolds atom by atom, positioning recognition elements with nanometre precision.
In our lab we harness this programmability to build “intelligent” molecular architectures: structure-switching receptors that change shape when they bind their target, scaffolds that co-localize recognition and signalling elements, and devices whose behaviour we can rationally reprogram. Borrowing regulatory strategies from biology (allostery, sequestration, cooperativity) we tune the affinity, specificity and dynamic range of our receptors to match the demands of each application. This molecular toolbox is the foundation on which all our sensing technologies are built.
Medical Diagnostics — Point-of-care sensing in real clinical samples
A diagnostic test is only as useful as it is accessible. Today, most clinical measurements still require a centralized laboratory: blood must be drawn, separated, diluted and washed by trained personnel before a single result comes back. For the patients who need answers fastest, that distance costs time, and sometimes outcomes.
We design sensors that remove the laboratory from the measurement. Exploiting the intrinsic selectivity of our structure-switching DNA receptors, we build single-step, wash-free and reagentless platforms that detect antibodies, proteins and small molecules directly in untreated biological fluids (whole blood, serum, plasma and saliva). Current efforts include programmable DNA scaffold sensors for the rapid detection of clinically relevant antibodies, and point-of-care tools for monitoring biologic drugs and the immune responses they trigger in cancer patients, so that therapies can be tailored to each individual. Our goal is simple to state and ambitious to reach: quantitative, lab-grade molecular diagnostics at the bedside, in the clinic and, one day, at home.