State Grant Supports Biosensor Research

Originally Published MDDI January 2003

R&D DIGEST

A New York state research agency has awarded $750,000 to a Cornell University (Ithaca, NY) engineer and physicist to develop a chip-based analytical system for rapid analysis of chemical and biological compounds. The research could lead ultimately to development of medical devices capable of performing rapid diagnostic tests.

The grant was made in November through the New York State Office of Science, Technology, and Academic Research (NYSTAR) Faculty Development Program, which is intended to help universities recruit leading research faculty. The researcher, Harold Craighead, is the C. W. Lake Jr. Professor of Engineering and professor of applied and engineering physics at Cornell.

The NYSTAR grant will support Craighead's research involving the application of nanotechnology to chip-based chemical and biochemical analysis systems. His research group has been involved in developing highly selective biological sensors capable of detecting small quantities of biological microorganisms or biochemicals. Craighead plans to create a new class of devices that will use microfluidic systems incorporating engineered nanostructures for high-speed analysis of chemical mixtures. The planned microfluidic systems use methods that are described as being similar to those used to produce electronic integrated circuits.

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