The Center for innovation in Point-of-Care Technologies for HIV/AIDS at Northwestern University (C-THAN) Supplemental Request

The "C-THAN POCTRN COVID-19 Proposal" is a supplement to the existing Center for innovation in Point-of-Care Technologies for HIV/AIDS at Northwestern (C-THAN) which aims to support development oftechnologies which can help address the urgent healthcare needs created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Theextent and urgency of the situation requires an aggressive and innovative approach to accelerate the deliveryof solutions to address immediate and future needs. Our approach augments the strong technical and clinicalexpertise within our own and the existing four POCTRN centers and their Coordinating Center. The specificaims are: 1) develop a SARS-CoV-2 ten-minute molecular diagnostic test based on the Minute MolecularPlatform; and 2) scale up C-THAN's established international network for COVID-19 technologicaldevelopment and testing of relevant products and assays in sub-Saharan Africa and other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). For aim 1, C-THAN proposes the development of a ten-minute SARS-CoV-2 testfor the Minute Molecular DASH (Diagnosis Analyzer for Selective Hybridization), a sample-to-answer platformfor point-of-care use in medical clinics, emergency departments and urgent care centers. The DASH platformexploits novel fast PCR and microfluidic fabrication technologies developed at the Center for innovation inGlobal Health Technologies (CIGHT) at Northwestern University. DASH technology can be adapted for highthroughput uses such as airports, hospitals, nursing homes, emergency departments and drive-through testingsites. For aim 2, we will scale up C-THAN resources to expand addressing the impact of the pandemic. TheC-THAN network consists of four biomedical engineering (BME) technology development sites plus threeclinical validation/needs assessment sites. The BME sites include University of Cape Town and StellenboschUniversity in South Africa, and University of Lagos and University of Ibadan in Nigeria. The seven clinicalvalidation/needs assessment sites include ones located with the engineering sites plus at University of Jos inNigeria, University of Bamako in Mali and Muhimbili University in Tanzania. The relationship of these sites withNorthwestern University go back up to 22 years. We will utilize Northwestern's Institute for Global HealthCatalyzer Award Program which has been funding promising research projects addressing critical global healthneeds for over 10 years. Two weeks ago, the Institute redirected all proposals to address only COVID-19activities. Basic scientists, biomedical engineers, infectious diseases specialists, virologist, pharmacologistsand public health faculty are encouraged to apply for Catalyzer awards which are in the range of $25,000 for aone-year project. With this POCTRN supplement, we will "plus-up" these awards to a maximum of $100,000each to increase the scope and pace of the development. Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis,and funding decisions are made within 7 days. These two approaches will rapidly accelerate the developmentof promising COVID-19 technologies both in the US and globally.