# Simple and rapid POC detection for fungemia

> **NIH NIH R01** · RBHS-NEW JERSEY MEDICAL SCHOOL · 2020 · $605,037

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
 Fungal species are among the most common causes of nosocomial bloodstream and invasive infections in
immunocompromised hosts. Mortality from candidemia can be very high, ranging from 20-40%. Cryptococcus
affects approximately 2-3% of solid organ transplant patients and Cryptococcus gattii has emerged as a new
cause of pneumonia and disseminated fungal disease. The global emergence of virulent multidrug resistant
species such as Candida auris, with a mortality reported to be as high as 68% is particularly worrisome. Culture-
based tests to detect Candida infections are slow, relatively insensitive, and may have difficulty distinguishing
between C. auris and other related Candida species. Lateral flow antigen tests for Cryptococcus have high
sensitivity and specificity but Cryptococcal antigen detection is available only as a standalone assay that is not
part of a larger fungal panel; thus, Cryptococcus infections may be missed in the absence of clinical suspicion.
Nucleic acid amplification based Candida assays do not have the sensitivity required to detect a Candida
infection directly from a patient blood sample (without pre-culture amplification) except for the T2Candida test
(based on magnetic resonance technology), which is prohibitively expensive, slow, low throughput and is only
able to distinguish among a limited number of Candida species. A more widely available, more rapid and user
friendly, and less expensive test for fungal blood stream infections has the potential to greatly impact patient
care and improve infection control. This proposal will take advantage of years of successful collaborations
between the Alland laboratory and Cepheid developing point of care diagnostic assays, including new
approaches to large blood volume sample processing and ultra-sensitive DNA sequence detection. We will
leverage this experience to create a fungal detection assay with unparalleled performance. Our specific aims
are: 1) Assay development. 2) Improved sample processing to maximize test blood volume and enhance assay
sensitivity. 3) Development and testing using dried reagent beads. 4) Perform analytic and pre-clinical studies in
preparation for large-scale clinical trials.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9862467
- **Project number:** 1R01AI148437-01
- **Recipient organization:** RBHS-NEW JERSEY MEDICAL SCHOOL
- **Principal Investigator:** David Alland
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $605,037
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-01-16 → 2024-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9862467

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9862467, Simple and rapid POC detection for fungemia (1R01AI148437-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9862467. Licensed CC0.

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