David Issadore's Biography

David Issadore, Professor, University of Pennsylvania

My research focuses on the integration of microelectronics, microfluidics, nanomaterials and molecular targeting, and their application to medicine. This multidisciplinary approach enables me to explore new technologies to bring medical diagnostics from expensive, centralized facilities, directly to clinical and resource-limited settings. My academic background in electrical engineering and applied physics and my research experience in a hospital research laboratory prepared me to work and collaborate effectively on these inherently cross-disciplinary problems. Furthermore, the multidisciplinary nature of this work make it especially well suited for the broad expertise present in Penn’s research community, including researchers from material science, electrical engineering, bioengineering, cancer biology, and infectious diseases. My prior work has focused on developing automated and inexpensive tools to control and analyze biological samples, both for point-of-care medicine and as a platform to explore questions in basic science. My most recent work was the development of a biomedical chip for the ultra-sensitive detection of rare cells ex-vivo.

Diagnosing Disease on a Microchip: Finding Nanoscale Needles in Messy Nanoscale Haystacks

Friday, 27 September 2024 at 11:30

Add to Calendar ▼2024-09-27 11:30:002024-09-27 12:30:00Europe/LondonDiagnosing Disease on a Microchip: Finding Nanoscale Needles in Messy Nanoscale HaystacksEmerging Technologies for Diagnostics and Liquid Biopsies - New Orleans 2024 in New OrleansNew OrleansSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

The transformative growth in microelectronics in the latter half of the 20th century was fueled fundamentally by the ability to miniaturize complex circuits onto chips. The impact of this has been profound– computing is pervasive and portable and communication is instant and global. My research aims to harness this same engineering approach to solve high impact problems in medical diagnostics. To accomplish this goal my lab develops hybrid microchips, where microfluidics are built directly on top of semiconductor chips. In this talk I will focus on recent work at Penn on 'digital asays.' Digital assays — in which ultra-sensitive molecular measurements are made by performing millions of parallel experiments in picoliter droplets — have generated enormous enthusiasm due to their single molecule resolution. These assays have incredible untapped potential for disease diagnostics but are currently confined to laboratory settings due to the instrumentation necessary to generate, control, and measure tens of millions of droplets. To overcome this challenge, we are developing a hybrid microelectronic / microfluidic chip to ‘unlock’ droplet-based assays for mobile use. Our microDroplet Megascale Detector (µMD) takes inspiration from cellular networks, in which phones are identified by their carrier frequency and not their particular location. In collaboration with physicians at The Abramson Cancer Center, we are demonstrating the power of this approach by developing a multiplexed extracellular vesicle-based diagnostic for the early detection of pancreatic cancer. I will also discuss ongoing projects on the early diagnosis of lung cancer, treatment guidance for traumatic brain injury, and the differential diagnosis of Alzheimer's versus Lewy body dementia.

Add to Calendar ▼2024-09-26 00:00:002024-09-27 00:00:00Europe/LondonEmerging Technologies for Diagnostics and Liquid Biopsies - New Orleans 2024Emerging Technologies for Diagnostics and Liquid Biopsies - New Orleans 2024 in New OrleansNew OrleansSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

Corporate Sponsors