BME PhD Preliminary Exam announcement for Emeka Nwanochie (J. Linnes and T. Kinzer-Ursem, co-advisors)

Everyone is invited to attend the public presentation beginning at 9:00am EST (Indiana).

Title: Point-of-care molecular-based platform for multiplexed detection of HIV and viral coinfections in blood samples

Date: May 19, 2022

Time: 9:00am EST (Indiana)

Zoom Meeting Link: https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/95216004215?pwd=SUxYUWlnQU9iWXcwN3pZcDVMTkwrdz09

Advisory committee: Jacqueline Linnes (Co-Chair); Tamara L. Kinzer-Ursem (Co-Chair); Joseph P. Robinson; Aman Russom

Abstract: 37.7 million people worldwide are living with HIV with low-to-middle-income communities (LMICs) disproportionately affected. Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for two-thirds of the population of people living with HIV (PLHIV). Although antiretroviral therapy (ART) has prolonged the life of PLHIV, treatment success is contingent upon early detection which requires new strategies to detect acute HIV infection. Further, co-infection with Human T- Lymphotropic Virus-1 (HTLV-1) and/or Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in PLHIV are known to accelerate the progression to AIDS. Unfortunately, existing rapid tests that detect host antibodies are affected by long seroconversions of these infections which allow the viruses to remain undetected long after infection and the persistence of host antibodies after viral clearance. In contrast, molecular methods based on nucleic acid amplification are suitable for detecting early infections of HIV, HTLV-1, and HCV; however, the high-operational costs of these assays restrict their use in low resource settings. Herein, I will develop a simple, cost-effective point-of-care (POC) device, detecting HIV, HTLV-1, and HCV from patient’s whole blood sample by combining the multiplex capability of centrifugal microfluidics with isothermal nucleic acid amplification. First, I will develop and optimize an isothermal nucleic acid amplification, including an internal amplification control (IAC) assay to achieve clinically relevant detection of HIV-1. Next, I will combine both assays with centrifugal microfluidics for high-throughput detection of HIV-1. Finally, I will develop and optimize parallel isothermal assays detecting HCV, and HTLV-1. The fully integrated platform will enable early screening of at-risk individuals for HIV-1 and HTLV-1 and/or HCV in LMICs.