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 of technologies which can help address the urgent healthcare needs created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The extent and urgency of the situation requires an aggressive and innovative approach to accelerate the delivery of solutions to address immediate and future needs. Our approach augments the strong technical and clinical expertise within our own and the existing four POCTRN centers and their Coordinating Center. The specific aims are: 1) develop a SARS-CoV-2 ten-minute molecular diagnostic test based on the Minute Molecular Platform; and 2) scale up C-THAN’s established international network for COVID-19 technological development 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 test for the Minute Molecular DASH (Diagnosis Analyzer for Selective Hybridization), a sample-to-answer platform for point-of-care use in medical clinics, emergency departments and urgent care centers. The DASH platform exploits novel fast PCR and microfluidic fabrication technologies developed at the Center for Innovation in Global Health Technologies (CIGHT) at Northwestern University. DASH technology can be adapted for high throughput uses such as airports, hospitals, nursing homes, emergency departments and drive-through testing sites. For aim 2, we will scale up C-THAN resources to expand addressing the impact of the pandemic. The C-THAN network consists of four biomedical engineering (BME) technology development sites plus three clinical validation/needs assessment sites. The BME sites include University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch University in South Africa, and University of Lagos and University of Ibadan in Nigeria. The seven clinical validation/needs assessment sites include ones located with the engineering sites plus at University of Jos in Nigeria, University of Bamako in Mali and Muhimbili University in Tanzania. The relationship of these sites with Northwestern University go back up to 22 years. We will utilize Northwestern’s Institute for Global Health Catalyzer Award Program which has been funding promising research projects addressing critical global health needs for over 10 years. Two weeks ago, the Institute redirected all proposals to address only COVID-19 activities. Basic scientists, biomedical engineers, infectious diseases specialists, virologist, pharmacologists and public health faculty are encouraged to apply for Catalyzer awards which are in the range of $25,000 for a one-year project. With this POCTRN supplement, we will “plus-up” these awards to a maximum of $100,000 each to increase the scope and pace of the development. Applications are being accepted on a rolling basis, and funding decisions are made within 7...