# Nanomagnetic isolation and sensing for mobile HIV-1 self-testing

> **NIH NIH R61** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2020 · $462,696

## Abstract

Project Summary
Antiretroviral treatment (ART) requires close monitoring of HIV-1 plasma viremia to confirm viral
suppression, and to identify viral rebound due to nonadherence or drug resistance to initiate
timely treatment modification. Thus, frequent efficient monitoring for HIV in blood via methods
that are accessible for home self-testing is a critical need. Current self-detection strategies only
detect antibody, and existing virus detection methods require extensive equipment and
expertise (RNA) and/or have limited sensitivity (antigen). We aim to fill this gap with the
development of an inexpensive, automated, portable system that will detect new or recurrent
plasma viremia with high specificity and sufficient sensitivity for self-monitoring in these
contexts. The ultimate goal of this project is to develop a platform technology for low-cost (<
$2/test) point-of-care nucleic acid diagnostics for use on crude human samples (plasma) to
quantitate viral RNA with a detection limit < 10 virus / sample (equivalent to a clinically-relevant
threshold of 1000 copy/ml on 10 ul finger prick blood). The method will be simple to perform and
will not require complex amplification procedures such as PCR. The novelty of our approach is
to combine two innovative technologies invented by our team - one for target separation and
concentration suitable for any starting blood volume, and one for label-free nucleic acid
detection without amplification – into an integrated device. The goal of our R66 is to design a
laboratory-based integrated system to demonstrate quantitation of HIV viral load on tissue
culture derived virus spiked into healthy plasma. The goals of our R33 are advanced
development of our technology into a fully-automated handheld mobile-phone based device to
be used by non-microfluidic experts, and evaluation using banked clinical samples through
partnership with Penn's Center for AIDS Research.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10002182
- **Project number:** 5R61AI147406-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** David Aaron Issadore
- **Activity code:** R61 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $462,696
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-26 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10002182

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10002182, Nanomagnetic isolation and sensing for mobile HIV-1 self-testing (5R61AI147406-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10002182. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*