Adaptive molecular diagnostics
Year of award: 2020
Grantholders
Dr Stephen Baker
University of Cambridge, United Kingdom
Project summary
Our project will use genomic data and a detailed understanding of pathogen evolution to deliver a robust, rapid, accurate and cost-effective pathogen detection kit for use in the field. Current methods are unsuitable for detection as they are slow, inaccurate and cannot be field deployed. Our work has already changed the basic understanding of how cholera spreads and identified high and low epidemic risks that are the cornerstones of disease prevention. By making robust molecular indicator kits adapted to field settings we are able to rapidly probe the likely behaviour of cholera strains and provide actionable data that can make a direct contribution to a major human health challenge.