Nanophotonics biosensor platforms for ultrasensitive biological analysis
by
Maxwell Auditorium
ALBA Synchrotron
ZOOM passcode 95272133
Abstract
COVID-19 pandemics has evidenced the urgent need of having portable diagnostic tools that enable rapid testing and screening of the population with sensitivity and specificity levels comparable to laboratory techniques. Biosensor technology is one of the best prepared to tackle the challenging goal of offering fast and user-friendly diagnostics tests than can be employed at the point-of-need. Photonic biosensors are systems that seize different light-
based phenomena for the fast detection and quantification of substances. Specifically, nanophotonic biosensors based on evanescent wave detection can provide sensitive, reliable, and selective analysis, while reducing test and therapeutic turnaround times, decreasing and/or eliminating sample transport, and using low sample volume.
In our group, we have demonstrated cutting-edge nanophotonic biosensors based on Nanoplasmonics and on Silicon photonics technologies that enable ultrasensitive analysis of body fluids in a few minutes. By custom tailoring the biochemistry of the sensor biochips, our nanophotonic biosensor technology can perform direct detection of proteins, genetic biomarkers, or pathogens within <15 min, with high sensitivity and selectivity. The diagnostic potential has been demonstrated and validated among others, for the drug monitoring of anticoagulants in plasma, antibiotic allergy diagnosis in plasma, early cancer diagnosis (colorectal and lung cancer) and bacterial, and viral infectious diseases. During COVID-19 pandemic, our nanophotonics biosensor has been fully validated with hundreds of clinical samples for the direct detection of anti‐SARS‐CoV‐2 immunoglobulins in COVID‐19 patients, confirming excellent diagnostic performance.
Short Bio
Prof. Laura M. Lechuga is Full Professor at the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Head of the Nanobiosensors and Bioanalytical Applications Group at the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2) in Barcelona (Spain).
The principal focus of her research is the development of novel nanobiosensor devices based on nanoplasmonics and silicon-based photonics principles for point-of-care diagnostics. Prof. Lechuga is a world reference in the Photonic Biosensor area, making key contributions and opening new horizons in this field. Her activities have encompassed from fundamental research to the technological operation of complete sensing platforms, including the technological transfer into products of social applicability. She has published over 300 publications (articles, book chapters and proceedings), has 8 families of patents, and has presented her work in more than 430 invited talks. She has co-founded two spin-off companies.
The quality of her research has been recognised by prestigious prizes and awards, as the Spanish National Research Prize in 2020, the King Jaume I award in New Technologies in 2020, the Ada Byron 2020 Prize, the Physics, Innovation and Technology Prize from the Spanish Royal Physics Society (RSEF) and BBVA Foundation (2016), the XVIII Burdinola Research award in 2021, the 2021 Medal of the International Foundation Olof Palme and the Doctor Honoris Cause awarded by the University of Cádiz, among others.
From April 2020 to September 2021, she belonged to the Expert Scientific Panel advising the Ministry of Science and Innovation and the Spanish Government in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic.
