Melodi Anahtar at the Breath Biopsy Conference 2021

The Breath Biopsy Conference 2022 is scheduled for 1^st-3^rd November. Click the button to express interest in the next Breath Biopsy Conference:

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Talk Abstract:

Historically, breath tests have relied on endogenous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to differentiate and diagnose disease. However, hurdles such as the presence of confounding environmental VOCs, subject variability, overall low VOC concentrations, and a lack of method standardization have prevented breath-based tests from being widely utilized as a reliable and accurate diagnostic tool. To overcome these challenges, our lab has leveraged our prior experience in creating synthetic biomarkers to develop volatile releasing nanoparticles that can generate exogenous, specific breath-based signatures of disease. These nanoparticles, which we have termed volatile activity-based nanosensors (vABNs), produce these synthetic volatile biomarkers in response to dysregulated protease activity in the lungs. The power of this system lies in our ability to select which VOC will be detected, thereby optimizing our signal-to-noise ratio in a way that cannot be done when relying on endogenous breath biomarkers. We have demonstrated that vABNs can be used to non-invasively detect aberrant protease activity in the lungs within 10 minutes after sensor administration, and can be repeatedly administered to monitor changes in protease activity over time, thus enabling a novel means of diagnosing and monitoring disease via breath.

Speaker Biography:
Melodi Anahtar is a PhD candidate in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics through the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology program. She is conducting her doctoral research under Dr Sangeeta Bhatia at MIT as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Her PhD is focused on creating diagnostic tools for infectious disease. After completing her degree, she hopes to work at the intersection of climate change and health.

The Breath Biopsy Conference 2022 is scheduled for 1^st-3^rd November. Click the button to express interest in the next Breath Biopsy Conference:

Express Interest