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A Microfluidic System for Affinity Reagent Generation and Assay Development for High-Throughput Biomarker Validation

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Army
Contract: W81XWH-08-C-0019
Agency Tracking Number: A072-147-0291
Amount: $729,962.00
Phase: Phase II
Program: SBIR
Solicitation Topic Code: A07-147
Solicitation Number: 2007.2
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2007
Award Year: 2009
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2008-12-02
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2010-12-02
Small Business Information
215 Wynn Dr., 5th Floor
Huntsville, AL 35805
United States
DUNS: 185169620
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: Yes
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Aditya Bedekar
 Group Leader Biomedical B
 (256) 726-4982
 tsb@cfdrc.com
Business Contact
 Deborah Phipps
Title: Contracts Specialist
Phone: (256) 726-4884
Email: dap@cfdrc.com
Research Institution
N/A
Abstract

Protein biomarkers are finding increasing application in Force Health Protection and health surveillance. However, very few biomarkers have been verified and validated to-date. This deficiency can primarily be ascribed to the scarcity of reagents (affinity probes). There is a need for assays to measure biomarker candidates, which must be accompanied by the development of reagents for detection. Currently, no miniaturized system to develop reagents in a cost-effective, high-throughput format is commercially available. The goal of the proposed research is to develop a microfluidics-based high-throughput reagent generation platform using capillary electrophoresis (CE) to enable the discovery and directed evolution of molecular probes from combinatorial libraries using an in vitro protein selection technique. The platform will be adapted to develop immunoassays using the probes selected. Key benefits include faster screening, reduced reagent consumption (cost savings), thermostable probes, and automation. In Phase I, we successfully demonstrated the generation of high quality combinatorial probe libraries using innovative protein engineering strategies. Proof-of-principle of the microfluidic screening concept was also established. In Phase II, the microfluidic system will be refined and used to develop reagents for selected biomarker targets, including those of interest to USACEHR. A multidisciplinary team with proven expertise in microfluidics, protein engineering, and device development has been assembled.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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