NIH awards $2.8 million to UF researchers to develop at-home HIV test kit  

June 24, 2024

A new, easy-to-use HIV-detection test kit being developed at the University of Florida using advanced CRISPR technology shows promise as an early-warning alarm system that could save millions of lives.   While at-home test kits have become increasingly common for various health screenings, innovations in HIV testing have been limited. Current HIV tests are effective only […]

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Piyush K. Jain, Ph.D.

AI helps create better, simpler hepatitis, COVID-19 tests

May 8, 2023

Going beyond pregnancy and COVID-19, the world could someday soon come to rely on at-home tests for many diseases thanks in part to AI-fueled improvements. University of Florida scientists have used artificial intelligence tools to simplify a test that works for both hepatitis C and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The simplified test happens […]

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Three ChE Assistant Professors Receive the NIH Maximizing Investigator's Research Award (MIRA)

Three ChE Assistant Professors Receive the NIH Maximizing Investigator’s Research Award (MIRA)

December 1, 2022

Three faculty at the University of Florida Department of Chemical Engineering received the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) R35 Early-Stage Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA). Each researcher was awarded a five-year, $1.8+ million award. MIRA awards provide investigators with greater stability and flexibility in funding, while enhancing their […]

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Piyush Jain, Ph.D.

Rapid home-based coronavirus tests are coming together in research labs

May 20, 2020

we’re working on analyzing spit using advanced CRISPR gene editing techniques Originally published by The Conversation A desperately needed tool to curb the COVID-19 pandemic is an inexpensive home-based rapid testing kit that can detect the coronavirus without needing to go to the hospital. The Food and Drug Administration has approved a few home sample collection kits […]

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Piyush Jain, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor Develops A Rapid Point-of-Care Detection Technology for SARS-CoV-2

April 14, 2020

Piyush Jain, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and a member of the UF Health Cancer Center, and Long Nguyen, a Ph.D. student, have developed a CRISPR-based, paper-based, rapid detection technology that can identify SARS-CoV-2 cDNA in as little as 5-10 minutes or SARS-CoV-2 RNA in as low as 30-60 minutes without the need […]

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Piyush Jain, Ph.D.

How Gene-Edited White Blood Cells are Helping Fight Cancer

November 18, 2019

originally published by The Conversation For the first time in the United States, a gene editing tool has been used to treat advanced cancer in three patients and showed promising early results in a pilot phase 1 clinical trial. So far the treatment appears safe, and more results are expected soon. To develop a safer and more effective treatment […]

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