Achievement

Sustainable medical care in third-world countries will require the development of accurate and inexpensive point-of-use detection systems. To this end, Professors Antje Baeumner and Margaret Frey presented a hands-on module that provided IGERT Fellows with an introduction to microfluidic systems, biosensor technology, and the potential role of nanomaterials, particularly electrospun nanofibers, in the development of lab-on-a-chip detection systems. In the lecture component, the strengths and limitations of current technology were outlined, then the challenges of nanomaterials integration and sensor validation were addressed. Two laboratory sessions provided Fellows with a hands-on introduction to microfluidic analysis and electrospinning. In the first, microfluidic polymeric biosensors were fabricated and used to analyze fluorescent nanovesicles and bacterial cells. The second lab investigated the role of polymer, solution and spinning parameters in nanofiber formation.