Abstract

Developing Novel Point of Care Diagnostics to Detect SARS-CoV-2

Danilo Tagle, Associate Director for Special Initiatives, National Institutes of Health

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative to meet the needs for COVID-19 diagnostic and surveillance testing, and also to speed its innovation in the development, commercialization, and implementation of new technologies and approaches. The RADx Radical (RADx-rad) initiative is one component of the RADx program which focuses on the development of new, or non-traditional applications of existing approaches, to enhance their usability, accessibility, and/or accuracy for the detection of SARS-CoV-2.  This presentation will elaborate on two RADx rad programs led by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences on 1) pivoting technologies being developed for the isolation of exosomes towards screening and detection for SARS-CoV-2 viral infection due to the similar physical and chemical properties between exosomes and SARS-CoV-2 virus; and 2) developing novel biosensing capabilities using electronic nose technologies to detect unique signatures of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of those with COVID-19 (Screening for COVID-19 by Electronic-Nose Technology (SCENT)).