Date/Time
Date(s) - 04/12/2024
9:00 am - 10:00 am
Category(ies)
Charlie Mace, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry Tufts University
Date: Friday, April 12, 2024
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Location: College Avenue Commons (CAVC) 101, 660 S. College Ave, Tempe AZ 85281
Abstract
Liquid venous blood is the gold standard for the majority of clinical assays, but it is unrealistic to expect it can be collected at home or in remote locations due to the need for trained phlebotomists and the logistical challenges of cold chain transport. Approaches that enable patient-centric microsampling—where blood that is self-collected by fingerstick can be sent ambiently through the mail—have the potential to address challenges with specimen transport. However, the development of these microsampling technologies, typified by the century-old dried blood spot (DBS) card, has not kept pace with the clinical need or emerging capabilities of telemedicine. To make reliable clinical decisions, enable diagnoses, and inform treatment decisions, there is an outstanding need for patient-centric devices that enable quantitative measurements from dried blood and plasma that are consistent with venous blood. We will discuss our use of paper-based microfluidics, where DBS cardstocks are patterned with hydrophobic barriers, to create dried blood and dried plasma spot cards that generate metered volumes within defined zones. These cards not only demonstrate equivalent (or superior) performance to commercial devices, but they also enable entirely new measurements of health indicators.
BioSketch
Charlie earned his BS in Physics from Le Moyne College, followed by an MS and PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of Rochester in the laboratory of Prof. Benjamin Miller. He was then a postdoctoral research assistant in the laboratory of Prof. George Whitesides at Harvard University. Prior to joining the faculty at Tufts in 2013, he was a senior scientist at Diagnostics For All, a non-profit medical diagnostics company with a mission to impact global through point-of-care testing. The primary goal of his lab at Tufts is to develop low-cost, patient-centric technologies that can improve access to healthcare, either by providing information at the point-of-care or through improved integration with clinical laboratories. Charlie was named an Emerging Investigator by Analytical Methods, received a Faculty Early Career Development Award from the NSF, and was named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors in their 2024 class.