Dr. Zheng Pilot Project: Cervical Cancer Screening Tool

In this project, we will support and facilitate the translation of POC technologies into clinical application, and more importantly promote their production and commercialization in the developing world. We propose to build a five-year program with the goal to develop a “Center for Innovation in Point of Care Technologies for HIV/AIDS”. The center will focus on emerging POC technologies that could have significant impacts on the management of HIV/AIDS infected individuals in developing countries. This includes POCs for detection of infections and treatment monitoring of both HIV/AIDS and its commons fatal infectious comorbidities (tuberculosis, Nontuberculous mycobacteria and hepatitis B&C). We will leverage on Northwestern University Center for Global Health (CGH) and the Center for Innovation in Global Health Technologies (CIGHT)’s extensive expertise and collaborations in sub-Saharan Africa in Nigeria, South Africa, Mali and Tanzania to address the project’s aims. Our team has more than 16 years’ collaborative experience with these institutions with many HIV related ongoing projects and training programs. One of those many ongoing projects is focused on developing innovative interdisciplinary biomedical engineering programs in Africa (Frameworks, D43TW009374, PI: R. Murphy). This five-year project (funded by Fogarty International Center)’s goal is to develop critically needed healthcare technologies in LMICs with a special emphasis on HIV-related diagnostic technologies. Other relevant ongoing projects include: Building Research and Innovation in Nigeria’s Science (BRAINS project) [D43TW010134 (PI: Ogunsola)] which includes a biomedical engineering component; HIV and Mycobacterial Diseases in Mali training project (D43TW010350, MPIs: Murphy and Diallo). It worth noting that we also have experience leading big HIV/AIDS networks including AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) and the Centers for AIDS Research (CFAR).