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SELECTBIO Conferences Point-of-Care, Biosensors & Mobile Diagnostics Europe 2019

Karolien De Wael's Biography



Karolien De Wael, Full Professor, Antwerp University

Prof. Dr. Karolien De Wael obtained her PhD in Chemistry at Ghent University in 2005 in the field of electrochemistry. In 2011, she was appointed as Research Professor and since 2018 she is full professor at the University of Antwerp in Belgium. She is group leader of the A-Sense Lab at the University of Antwerp (ca 25 members). Our lab is part of the Bioscience Engineering Department and performs fundamental, methodological and application-oriented research involving a wide range of analytical techniques.

Today the demand for ultra-sensitive and selective (on-site/in process) detection systems resounds from the health, food and environmental sector. These systems must be able to detect and quantify target molecules, important in point-of-care testing and for assessing the level of contamination in food, industrial and environmental samples. (Photo)Electrochemistry is an inviting approach for monitoring the presence and concentration of pollutants as these devices are fast, portable and extremely sensitive and selective towards (non)electro-active species. A strategic vision of K. De Wael aims at a portfolio of sensor technologies that can be applied in different markets/sectors embracing the idea of responsible research and innovation.

K. De Wael coordinates the EU BorderSens project. BorderSens offers beyond state of the art solutions to facilitate fast identification of illicit drugs greatly reducing false negative and false positive results. In this lecture, a novel sensing technology for cancer research will be presented. A-Sense Lab is both embedded in the Enviromics consortium (Industrial Research Fund) and Nanolab Center of Excellence within the University of Antwerp.

Karolien De Wael Image

Bio-Inspired Laser-Induced Electrochemical Sensing Strategies: Antigen/Nanobody-based Magnetosensing

Tuesday, 18 June 2019 at 14:45

Add to Calendar ▼2019-06-18 14:45:002019-06-18 15:45:00Europe/LondonBio-Inspired Laser-Induced Electrochemical Sensing Strategies: Antigen/Nanobody-based MagnetosensingPoint-of-Care, Biosensors and Mobile Diagnostics Europe 2019 in Rotterdam, The NetherlandsRotterdam, The NetherlandsSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

In my talk a sensing strategy inspired by the advantages of enzymes and photoelectrochemical sensing, namely the integration of aerobic photocatalysis and electrochemical analysis, will be presented. The photosensitizer, a bioinspired perfluorinated Zn phthalocyanine, generates singlet-oxygen from air under visible light illumination and oxidizes analytes, yielding electrochemically-detectable products while resisting the oxidizing species it produces. Compared with enzymatic detection methods, the proposed strategy uses air instead of internally added reactive reagents, features intrinsic baseline correction via on/off light switching and shows C-F bonds-type enhanced stability. It also affords selectivity imparted by the catalytic process and nano-level detection, such as 20nM amoxicillin in ml sample volumes.

Additionally, this strategy can be applied to improve the sensitivity of assays by using magnetic beads in combination with an amperometric readout in a configuration so-called electrochemical magnetosensor. The main difference between of a magnetosensor from a biosensor is that a biorecognition element is linked to magnetic beads and can be temporally dispersed in a sample for improving binding kinetics and, then, accumulated on an electrode by a magnet to register an analytical response. In comparison with conventional optical read-out systems, electrochemical sensors can register an analytical response almost immediately and without the need of developing the reaction in bulk volume, because the response of electrochemical sensors is determined by a thin layer of measuring solution near the electrode surface where the beads with immunoreagents are placed. This approach may improve sensitivity and decrease analysis time in comparison to conventional ELISA.


Add to Calendar ▼2019-06-18 00:00:002019-06-19 00:00:00Europe/LondonPoint-of-Care, Biosensors and Mobile Diagnostics Europe 2019Point-of-Care, Biosensors and Mobile Diagnostics Europe 2019 in Rotterdam, The NetherlandsRotterdam, The NetherlandsSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com