Michael Heller,
Professor, Dept Bioengineering,
University of California-San Diego
Michael J. Heller received his PhD in Biochemistry from Colorado State University in 1973. He was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University from 1973 to 1976. From 1976 to 1984 he was supervisor of the DNA Technology Group at Amoco Corporation (Standard Oil Indiana) During that time he carried out early bioengineering and recombinant DNA work on plants, algae and photosynthetic bacteria for energy and chemical production, and developed some of the first fluorescent resonant energy transfer (FRET) and chemiluminescent oligonucleotide probes for DNA hybridization analysis. He also oversaw Amoco’s sponsored energy and chemical research work at Cetus Corporation, which included the cloning of thermophilic enzymes. Dr. Heller was the Director of Molecular Biology at Molecular Biosystems, Inc., from 1984 to 1987. He was a co-founder of Integrated DNA Technologies, and served as President and Chief Operating Officer from 1987 to 1989. He was a co-found of Nanogen and served as the Chief Technical Officer from 1993 to 2001. Nanogen carried out the successful development and commercialization of electronic DNA microarray technology for clinical diagnostic genotyping applications. Dr. Heller is a Professor (Recall/Emeritus) in the Departments of Nanoengineering and Bioengineering at the University California San Diego. He is also now a Distinguished Scientist at the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), Center for Cancer Early Detection and Research (CEDAR), in Portland, Oregon. He has also co-founded a company called Biological Dynamics which is developing new sample to answer cancer diagnostics technology, based on the novel dielectrophoretic (DEP) technology developed at his UCSD lab. Dr. Heller has extensive industrial experience in biotechnology, biomedical and molecular diagnostic devices and nanotechnology, with particular expertise in the areas of DNA probe diagnostics, electrokinetic lab-on-a-chip devices, DNA synthesis, FRET/fluorescent-based detection technologies and electric field assisted self-assembly of DNA nanostructures. Dr. Heller has over 100 publications and 56 issued US patents.
Detection of Cancer Related Protease Biomarkers from Blood Spot Cards – Transition to Viable POC Diagnostics for Cancer
Thursday, 30 November 2023 at 17:30
Add to Calendar ▼2023-11-30 17:30:002023-11-30 18:30:00Europe/LondonDetection of Cancer Related Protease Biomarkers from Blood Spot Cards – Transition to Viable POC Diagnostics for CancerMaterials and Tools for Developing POC and Rapid Dx 2023 in Laguna Hills, CaliforniaLaguna Hills, CaliforniaSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com
Important cancer related protease biomarkers can be detected rapidly from blood spot card samples using simple electrophoretic and lateral flow devices. The combination of blood spot card samples and simple detection devices represents an ideal approach for new POC and rapid molecular diagnostics. Proteases represent a class of enzymes that degrade proteins and have been associated with a range of diseases, including cardiovascular; coagulation disorders; inflammatory diseases, diabetes, sepsis; infectious diseases and cancer. The protease assays utilize fluorescent charge-changing peptide substrates and can be carried out using small volumes (5ul-10ul) of whole blood, plasma or serum. No sample preparation is required, and the fluorescent peptide products can be detected in about 30 minutes using simple electrophoretic and lateral flow formats We now have results showing the elevation of specific proteases (trypsin, chymotrypsin, MMPs and Cathepsins) in pancreatic (PDAC) and other cancers. We also have preliminary results showing protease biomarkers can be detected from samples applied to “Blood Spot Cards.” Use of blood spot cards represents a paradigm change with advantages including they require only a small blood sample (5-10ul), are cost $$$ effective (compared to a blood draw tube) and would allow viable time course studies and companion diagnostics to be carried out (hours, days, weeks).
