Taste Chip Collaborators - McDevitt Research Labs UT Austin

The McDevitt research group has strategic collaborations in the saliva diagnostics program, cardiac risk assessment program, HIV monitoring program, and at the University of Texas at Austin. With expertise from across the globe, we are dedicated to efficiently and comprehensively answering major global health care issues.

The UK team will provide saliva research expertise to the saliva program. UK will be responsible for patient recruitment, assessment of periodontal status, clinical intervention, saliva sample collection, and obtaining clinical data.

Craig Miller, DMD, MS

Dr. Miller is a Professor of Oral Medicine in the Department of Oral Health Practice, Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Genetics, College of Dentistry and College of Medicine at the University of Kentucky. He will serve as the UK PI for the overall clinical research linkage with the technology development group at the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Miller managed the initial aspects of the U01 funding for this activity and initiated patient recruitment and sample collection. He will maintain this role in assuring a timely recruiting activity at each of the clinical sites, and will work directly with Dr. Kryscio in the statistical analyses of salivary analyte levels for the technology validation activities. He will also link with the UT collaborators during the program to enable transition and testing of the LOC technology at each of the sites. He will be responsible for interpretation of the findings and contribute as a primary in the preparation of reports on the outcomes of the project.

More information from the Miller Group.

Jeffrey L. Ebersole, PhD

Dr. Ebersole is a Co-I for the saliva diagnostics project. He will have direct responsibility for overseeing the laboratory technical support for the saliva analyses using existing ELISA and Luminex technologies. He will contribute with Dr. Miller to assuring a productive linkage of the 3 clinical sites for this project. Dr. Ebersole has previous collaborations with the PIs and/or periodontal clinical directors at each of the site and will use this experience to help provide guidance for completion of the clinical arms of the study. He will also have a role with Dr. Miller in nurturing the clinical research relationship with Dr. Lennie for patient recruitment and assessment. He has been involved in similar clinical/translational research studies for over 25 years. Finally, he will work with both Drs. Miller and Kryscio in data analysis and interpretation.

More information from the Ebersole Group.

M. John Novak, BDS, PhD

Dr. Novak is a Co-I for the saliva diagnostics project. He will have direct responsibility for patient recruitment, clinical evaluation, and treatment delivery for the UK cohort. He has extensive experience in Phase III clinical trials and multi-center randomized clinical trials. Moreover, Dr. Novak has worked with Dr. Ebersole for over 15 years in clinical translational research and continues these collaborations with existing grants from the NIH. He will also act as the liaison with the periodontal clinical evaluations and treatment activities at all sites. He has provided this type of leadership to similar studies that engaged research collaborators at both the University of Louisville and the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.

More information from the Novak Group.

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA)

The UTHSCSA team will provide saliva research expertise to the saliva diagnostics program. UTHSCSA will be responsible for patient recruitment, assessment of periodontal status, clinical intervention, saliva sample collection, and obtaining clinical data. UTHSCSA plans to target ~180 patients for this study.

Chih-Ko Yeh, BDS, Ph.D.

Dr. Yeh is a Professor of the Department of Dental Diagnostic Science and will serve as PI at the UTHSCSA site for the saliva diagnostics project. He has studied saliva and salivary gland function, for the past twenty years at both clinical and laboratory levels. Dr Yeh will be responsible for collection of clinical data and saliva samples at the UTHSCSA site. He will communicate with other investigators regarding data and sample transfer. He will also provide his saliva research expertise to the overall research project.

Spencer W. Redding, DDS, MS ed

Dr. Redding is the Chair and Professor in the Department of Dental Diagnostic Science and also the Director of the Clinical Research Facility. He has been involved in numerous clinical studies in the past 25 years and has overseen many large clinical research protocols in the past 7 years. Dr. Redding will assist and advise Dr. Yeh and the Research Dental Hygienist on patient recruitment and he will assure the availability of the Clinical Research Facility Clinical to this project.

The University of Louisville (UL)

The Louisville team will provide saliva research expertise to the saliva diagnostics program. Louisville will be responsible for patient recruitment, assessment of periodontal status, clinical intervention, saliva sample collection, and obtaining clinical data. Louisville plans to target ~180 patients for this study.

Denis F. Kinane, BDS, PhD

Dr. Kinane is Associate Dean for Research and Enterprise at the University of Louisville School of Dentistry and Director of the Center for Oral Health and Systemic Disease at the University of Louisville. He received his Bachelor of Dental Science degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1980, and his Ph.D. from the Department of Microbiology, University of Edinburgh Medical School in 1983. Since that time, he has served as a Lecturer in Periodontology at Dundee Dental Hospital and School, as a Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow Dental Hospital and School, and has been a Professor in Periodontology and Oral Immunology since 1994. He became Associate Dean for Research and Enterprise at the University of Glasgow in 1998. He chairs and is a member of multiple international committees and has directed and organized many international meetings and symposia over the last ten years. He has served as President of the Periodontal Research Group of the IADR and is on the organizing committee of the European Academy of Periodontology. Dr. Kinane will serve as the UL PI on the saliva diagnostics program. As PI, he will supervise the dental hygienists collecting periodontal data and providing treatment of periodontal disease. He will be responsible for the overall management, co-ordination, and execution of the project at University of Louisville School of Dentistry. He will be supervising recruitment of subjects and will work with the Research Coordinator and Hygienist to achieve timely recruitment and execution of the study. He will work in collaboration with the Principal Investigators at the other sites. He will supervise the storing of the samples and make space in his laboratory for preparation and storage of saliva. All necessary methodologies have been well established in Dr. Kinane's laboratory. He will also be jointly responsible for data analysis, presentation at national/international meetings, manuscript preparation, and preparation of final report.

Rice University and University of Texas Medical Complex

Rice University
Barbara Richards-Kortum, PhD

Dr. Richards-Kortum's research group is developing miniature microscopes and spectrometers to enable early detection of precancerous changes in living tissue. Her research group is currently developing fluorescence-based techniques for the diagnosis of cervical pre-cancer in vivo, and in collaboration with Dr. Michele Follen has carried out clinical trials of this technique involving over 1,500 patients at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. In collaboration with Dr. Michael Descour at the University of Arizona, her group is developing miniature confocal microscopes to visualize the microscopic changes which accompany precancer. In collaboration with Dr. Konstantin Sokolov at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, her group is developing contrast agents for in vivo molecular imaging of changes associated with precancer including expression of epidermal growth factor reception. Also under study are spectroscopic techniques for improving and automating screening for precancer of the oral cavity in collaboration with Dr. Ann Gillenwater. In addition to being named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor in 2002, her awards include, Presidential Young Investigator, National Science Foundation (1991), Presidential Faculty Fellow, National Science Foundation (1992); Becton Dickinson Career Achievement Award, Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (1992); Outstanding Engineering Teaching by an Assistant Professor Award, College of Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin (1994); Y.C. Fung Young Investigator Award, Bioengineering Division, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1999). In 2001, she was elected to the Academy of Distinguished Teachers at The University of Texas at Austin and received the Chancellor's Council Outstanding Teaching Award for 2002. She also currently serves on the National Advisory Council for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering for the National Institutes of Health.

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Dental Branch
Charles Streckfus, DDS

Charles Streckfus, D.D.S., professor of Diagnostic Sciences and international expert in salivary proteomics. He joined the Dental Branch on August 1 as a professor in the Department of Diagnostic Sciences. Streckfus received his D.D.S. from the University of Maryland School of Dental Surgery and his M.A. in psychology from
Towson State University. He did postdoctoral training at The Johns Hopkins University and spent several years at the NIDCR as a Dental Officer. Dr. Streckfus studies biomarkers in saliva, with a particular focus on cancer biomarkers.

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Medical School
William P. Dubinsky, MD

Wiliam P. Dubinsky. MD,
Ion channels and systic fibrosis
My research focuses on the mechanisms regulating absorption and secretion by epithelial tissues. These processes are mediated by highly regulated specific ion channels in the plasma membranes of the cells. Channels that are present in the plasma membranes are regulated by a host of second messengers as well as cytoskeletal interactions. A second level of control is also exerted through the regulation of the trafficking and insertion of the channel into the plasma membrane. These mechanisms are of major importance since they are central to the defects observed in such diverse disease as cystic fibrosis and cholera. Cystic fibrosis is of particular relevance since it is one of the most common lethal genetic diseases with a well defined and easily identified phenotype. Approximately 500 mutations in the single gene encoding a CI channel, the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), have been identified, all of which result in altered cellular electrolyte transport. The most frequent mutation on cystic fibrosis results in the failure to transport the gene product to the cell surface and thus the inability to secrete CI. Our approach has been to use biochemical and electrophysiological analyses to identify specific membrane proteins and ion channels in sub cellular membrane vesicles and reconstituted planer lipid bi layers. Results obtained in the model systems are readily extrapolated back to the intact tissue by comparison of their electrophysiological and biochemical fingerprints. Along with the functional identification of the specific activities, antibodies to the purified proteins are used to identify and track the proteins in the intact cell. With these tools we are able to follow the processing and trafficking of membrane. Knowledge of the factors that control and direct the trafficking of these proteins will help elucidate this complex in normal and diseased states.

University of Texas at Austin Collaborators

Dr. Andrew Ellington (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry)

Dr. Ellington is the Wilson M. and Kathryn Fraser Research Professor in Biochemistry, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, College of Natural Sciences at UT. The Ellington lab works on the evolutionary engineering of molecules, metabolism, and organisms. Current projects revolve around a number of industrially-relevant efforts in nucleic acid selection, including the selection of RNA molecules that can inhibit the replication of HIV-1, the selection of RNA molecules that can be used as medical diagnostics, and the selection of ribozymes and modified ribozymes that can be used to detect minute amounts of target analytes. These research efforts are all supplemented by internal expertise in laboratory automation (robotics) and bioinformatics (the construction and mining of databases). We have also recently begun programs in protein and organismal engineering. Deficiencies in the p53 protein are responsible for a large proportion, perhaps up to a quarter, of human cancers. We have engineered thermo-stable variants of the p53 protein that may be useful as gene therapies for human cancer. Finally, we have engineered "unnatural" organisms that can utilize amino acid analogues in place of natural amino acids.

More information on the Ellington Group.

Dr. Dean P. Neikirk (Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Dr. Neikirk is currently a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and holder of the Cullen Trust for Higher Education Professorship in Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin. He developed the first monolithic, high resolution far infrared imaging detector array, and received the 1984 Marconi International Fellowship Young Scientist Award for his contributions to the development of millimeter-wave integrated circuits. He received an NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award in 1986 for the application of integrated circuit fabrication techniques to new electromagnetic structures. In 1985, Dr. Neikirk established the Microelectronics Fabrication Teaching Laboratory at UT-Austin, providing undergraduate and graduate students with hands-on experience in integrated circuit fabrication. He is presently supervising a number of M.S. and Ph.D. students on projects involving integrated circuit processing, high frequency properties of transmission lines, semiconductor devices, and micro-machined sensors and actuators. His expertise will be employed to aid in the design and fabrication of the array structures, to interface the electronics as well as to develop the appropriate signal processing protocols.

More information on the Neikirk Group.

Dr. Eric V. Anslyn (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry)

Dr. Anslyn received his B.S. in Chemistry in 1983 from California State University Northridge. He obtained his Ph.D. from the California Institute of Technology in 1987. At Caltech, he was the Chevron Fellow in catalysis. He then moved to Columbia University to complete NSF funded post-doctoral research in a more biological area. In the fall of 1989, he moved to The University of Texas at Austin as an Assistant Professor, and in 1995 he was promoted to Associate Professor. He received the Presidential Young Investigator Award, a Dreyfus-Teacher Scholar Award, a Sloan Fellowship, and was named a Searle Scholar. Molecular recognition and enzyme mimicry are the focal points of the work. Dr. Anslyn is an expert in thermodynamics, kinetics, organic synthesis, library methods, and molecular design. His expertise will be used to form the chemical entities that perform the complexation and fluorescence signaling.

More information on the Anslyn Group.

Dr. Jason B. Shear (Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry)

Dr. Shear received his B.S. in Chemistry at the University of Texas in 1989, and obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Stanford University in 1994. His predoctoral studies at Stanford were supported by a Howard Hughes Fellowship, and concentrated on development of new spectroscopic techniques for analyzing neurotransmitters. Afterward, he moved to the Applied Physics Department at Cornell University as an NSF postdoctoral fellow, where he designed chemical and biological applications for multiphoton-excited fluorescence and photochemistry. His research at Cornell led to the development of new analysis approaches for investigating neurotransmitter secretion from living cells. In the Summer of 1996, Dr. Shear returned to the University of Texas as a tenure-track assistant professor. He has recently been named an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator to support his research into development of optical biosensors for analyzing trace levels of neurotoxins. Other work in his group is directed toward the characterization of chemical properties of individual neurons, with current focus placed on rapid microcolumn chemical separation procedures, new imaging techniques, and novel detection approaches based on multiphoton-excited fluorescence in solution. His knowledge of ligand-receptor interactions, ultrasensitive optical measurement approaches, and extensive background in neurochemistry will be tapped to optimize sensor detection limits and temporal resolution, and will provide expertise in the handling of saliva samples and separations as required for the lab-on-a-chip measurements.

More information on the Shear Group.

HIV Immune Function Program Collaborators

LabNow's Mission Statement:

"As stewards of an innovative platform technology, LabNow is entrusted with providing accessible point-of-need solutions that dramatically improve global health and safety."

The University of Texas at Austin is currently working with LabNow, Inc. and its partners to translate our research prototypes into a practical diagnostic system that will be accessible and affordable for use in important global health care settings. LabNow, Inc., headquartered in Austin, Texas, has licensed the lab-on-a-chip sensor technology from The University of Texas at Austin (UT). LabNow's initial focus is on point-of-care testing markets for in vitro diagnostic applications. Their first product will be a CD4 System that has the ability to revolutionize the monitoring of treatment for HIV/AIDS patients. The test is conducted in a disposable microfluidics biochip in conjunction with a portable analyzer. The LabNow CD4 BioChip could be used in developed healthcare markets or in resource scarce countries.

The HIV CD4 counting program was initially funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in a collaborative program between the Partners AIDS Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and the Chemistry/Biochemistry Department at the University of Texas at Austin. The program served to adapt the established McDevitt group Lab-on-a-Chip (LOC) technology for CD4 counting. The effort targeted the development of an affordable diagnostic system, including portable instrumentation and disposable assay cartridges, for CD4 counting use in resource-poor settings.

Partners AIDS Research Center

The Partners AIDS Research Center was established in 1995 as a means to promote multidisciplinary AIDS research at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Brigham and Women's Hospital, the two major teaching hospitals of Harvard Medical School. The Center consists of over 50 investigators involved in clinical translational research involving experimental therapeutics, pathogenesis of HIV infection, studies in antiviral drug resistance, vaccine development, immune function and AIDS malignancies. The Center is housed in 12,000 square feet of state of the art research space at the MGH-East research facilities, and has a total budget of over 15 million dollars annually. A full service outpatient clinic facility at MGH is the base for an active clinical program that ensures rapid translation of basic science research advances to clinical trials.

Bruce D. Walker, M.D. ( Partners AIDS Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School )

Dr. Walker is a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of AIDS at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Partners AIDS Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. He obtained his undergraduate training at the University of Colorado and the Swiss Federal Technical Institute and his M.D. degree from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Following an internship and residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in infectious diseases in the laboratory of Robert Schooley, studying the cellular immune response to HIV in infected persons. He now spends the majority of his laboratory time analyzing the body's fight against chronic viral infections, with a focus on cellular immune responses to HIV and hepatitis C virus. Dr. Walker is also a clinician, with a specialty in infectious diseases, particularly the treatment of persons with HIV/AIDS. Dr. Walker's honors include a Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Professorship and a Merit Award from the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Walker's colleague, Dr. William Rodriguez, served as the PI for the Gates Program on which UT was a subcontractor.

Michael G. Watkins, M.D., F.A.C.C. ( Austin Cardiovascular Associates)

Dr. Watkins is the Director of Cardiology, Seton Medical Center; Director of Seton's Pacemaker Clinic, Coumadin Clinic, and Lipid Clinic; and Past President of Austin Cardiovascular Associates.

Denis F. Kinane, BDS, PhD (The University of Louisville)

Lt. Col., USAF, BSA, Timothy S. Wells, DVM, MPH, Ph.D.

Lt. Col. Wells is the Assistant Director, DoD Center for Deployment Health, San Diego, CA . He will be responsible for the design of epidemiological studies and the statistical analysis of data acquired on clinical samples.