A spotlight from the Biomedical Engineering Department featured thoughts on how to improve disease diagnostics and the University’s approach towards science.

This week, the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) hosted two “Tissue Talks,” webinars highlighting the research of Columbia professors on topics ranging from artificial muscles to the development of more accurate and efficient diagnostic devices. The series is hosted by Dr. Gordana Vunjak-Novakovic, a University Professor and the principal investigator of the Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering. Dr. Sam Sia and Dr. Henry Hess, both faculty members of the BME Department, had their research featured in this week’s talks, which served as the final installments of the year.

Wednesday’s talk hosted Dr. Sam Sia, the principal investigator of the Molecular and Microscale Bioengineering Laboratory. His lab focuses on developing faster and more accurate devices for diagnosing diseases, including prostate cancer, Lyme disease, and COVID-19, as well as developing new therapies and implantable devices for treatment. Recently, Dr. Sia also served as a co-founder for Harlem Biospace, a local incubator that helps biotechnology companies start up in NYC.

Dr. Sia also serves as the inaugural Vice Provost for Fourth Purpose and Strategic Impact, a brand new office within Columbia’s Office of the Provost that attempts to further what President Bollinger calls the University’s “fourth purpose:” using research and scholarship to advance human welfare and address the biggest global issues of our time. In this role, Dr. Sia helps manage internal and external collaborations to help Columbia scholars apply their work towards benefiting the community and world at large.

The first project Dr. Sia highlighted in the webinar was the attempt to build a more rapid and accurate PCR test for applications such as COVID-19 diagnosis. As Dr. Sia explained, current tests are bulky, have large power requirements, and take valuable time to give results. These drawbacks make PCR tests not ideal for point-of-care use and can cause delays in patients receiving treatment.

Dr. Sia’s novel PCR technique puts nanoparticles into the mix, which allows the test solution to be heated using infrared light. This heats the solution from the inside, giving a much quicker and more even result. Additionally, the materials this test uses are lower-cost, which will allow for greater accessibility and scaling of more accurate PCR diagnoses.

Dr. Sia highlighted an innovation that differentiated his method from the work of other groups: the monitoring of the test’s fluorescence in real time. His test uses a greater number of wavelengths to excite and monitor the nanoparticles, which cuts down on the processing time needed to perform it. His team also developed a novel cartridge for holding test samples, which directly extracts the sample from whatever vessel the patient placed it in, reducing the transportation, processing, and handling of potentially biohazardous samples. Dr. Sia hopes this innovation will fulfill the currently unmet need for PCR test results at the point of patient care, filling a critical gap in managing pandemics.

Another issue Dr. Sia addressed was wastewater monitoring, which allows us to track the spread of COVID-19 through sewage. As he pointed out, wastewater analysis is a laborious process that requires the transportation of wastewater to the lab. Dr. Sia is collaborating with other investigators across Columbia on the TRACES (Tracking the COVID-19 Epidemic through Sewage) project, which hopes to build a machine that will make this process more automated and easier to perform at larger scales. Their new approach acquires samples using a more distributed method, using small volumes of processed wastewater rather than large volumes of untreated sewage. This process is not only much faster (2 hours vs. a full day for a round of testing!) but also makes it easier to transport samples and reduces strain on the labs performing the analysis. 

The talk also included an examination of Columbia’s philosophy towards research as whole. Dr. Sia concluded with his thoughts on how research can be translated to benefit the community at large. He cited the fourth purpose philosophy as a driving force for how the University can directly engage with the city community to perform science and further innovation. Dr. Sia pointed to the work of the consortium of science institutions in West Harlem (from Columbia’s Manhattanville Campus, to CUNY’s Structural Biology Institute and the Advanced Science Research Building, to commercial efforts like Harlem Biospace) as examples of collaborative research that his office helped to forward.

The Office of the Vice Provost for the Fourth Purpose and Strategic Impact seems to be poised to transform not just Columbia, but the institution of higher education in a radical way. By steering the University towards addressing social challenges and pushing Columbia researchers to engage with institutions that perhaps have been ignored by the school, research can proceed with public service and community-first ideals at the center of its vision to transform the world.

Tissue Talks Poster via BME Department Website