McDevitt Research Group: About
- Kathleen C. Kinnally Outstanding Scientific Achievement Award, New York University, 2016
- Wallace H. Coulter Lectureship Award, Highest Award from AACC, 2016
- Selected as Member of the New York Academy of Medicine, 2015
- Scientific Founder and Chief Scientific Officer for SensoDx, LLC, 2014-Present
- Nokia Sensing X Prize Finalist, 2013, 2014
- Outstanding New Faculty Member School of Engineering, Rice Alumni Association, 2011
- Stephen T. Sonis Visiting Professor Award, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, 2011
- Honored Alumnus Award, College of Science and Mathematics, California Polytechnic State University, 2010
- Popular Science Best of What's New Award in the Personal Health category, 2008
- Scientific Founder for LabNow, Inc. (commercial HIV immune test), 2004-2008
- Gates Award Grant Recipient (HIV monitoring for use in Africa), 2004
- Science Coalition Best Scientific Advances of the Year, 1998
- Best Poster Award, Boston MRS meeting, 1997
- Primary inventor of "Taste Chip Technology", 1998
- Presidential Young Investigator Award, U.T. Austin, 1990-1995
- Exxon Education Foundation Award, U.T. Austin, 1992
- Grace Fellowship, Stanford University, 1983-1987
- Chemistry Dept. Research Award, California Polytechnic State University, 1979-1982
Unique Opportunities for Philanthropy
Priority #A: Microfluidics microfabrication collaborative (MIMIC) facility will be used to establish infrastructure for medical microdevice design, fabrication and testing. Facility will service 42 Rice groups and extend into Texas Medical Complex through interactions with the GCC Early Disease Detection Cluster (100+ clinical researchers). Philanthropy will help to maintain Rice/Houston's lead in development of IC of medicine/bio-marker highway and to create hub of a new bio-nano-chip industry in Texas.
Priority #B: Realizing Affordable Healthcare will be used to bring microdevice discoveries from the bench to the bedside. Philanthropy will help to identify the most cost-effective medical microdevices, develop policy recommendations that encourage the adoption of cost saving devices in the marketplace, and train Rice scientists with business skills to bring their discoveries to market.
Priority #C: Disease Specific Seed Programs will be used to nucleate new disease specific efforts so that customized microchips for various diseases can be created for the first time and the initial clinical data acquired. Philanthropy will help to secure proof of principle data and place these diseases on a fast track for large scale Federal funding and moving them closer to widespread clinical practice.
Development of a Lab-on-a-Chip System for Saliva Based Diagnostics
Source: National Institutes of Health; National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Scope: The McDevitt group’s role for this joint program that spans five research groups is to develop new methods for measurement of saliva-based analytes using microfluidic devices.
Grant number: 1U01 DE017793-01 Development of a Lab-on-a-Chip System for Saliva Based Diagnostics
Development of a Lab-on-a-Chip System for Saliva Based Diagnostics
Source: National Institutes of Health; National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Scope: Building on the biomarker discoveries made for the heart attack test and the momentum gathered from the parent U-01 program, the clinical study tasked here aims to validate a multiplexed salivary biomarker panel for the screening of AMI in the emergency room setting.
Grant number: 3 U01 DE017793-05S1
Monitoring of Oral Cancer Patients Using Novel Lab-on-a-Chip Ensembles
Source: National Institutes of Health; National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
Scope: The development of a minimally-invasive brush biopsy test for oral cancer diagnosis (no scalpel biopsy would be required) that when combined with a novel microchip can be performed in clinics or dentist’s offices with results that are available in a matter of minutes (within visit).
Grant number: 1 RC2 DE020785-01
Texas Cancer Diagnostics Pipeline Consortium
Source: Cancer Prevention Research Institute of Texas
Scope: Through this novel program, efforts are directed toward the development of a platform that can be used to accelerate the release of new cancer diagnostic tests and screening devices in the state of Texas. Through the unique partnerships here assembled an infrastructure will be developed that serves to span the essential areas of biomarker discovery, biomarker validation and clinical implementation with the goal of achieving technological innovation, reduced health care costs and improved healthcare outcomes. These efforts are unique in scope in terms of their capacity to combine nano science and engineering, state-of-the-art imaging methods, microfluidics concepts for sample processing and multiplexed biomarker panel analysis for the development of integrated test ensembles suitable for screening and diagnostic testing for oral, prostate and ovarian cancers.
Advanced Nano-Bio-Chips for Saliva-Based Drug Tests at the Point-of-Arrest
Source: United Kingdom’s Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB)
Scope: RoadsideBNC drug tests to be developed with this Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB) program promise to serve as important tools for police officers to prosecute drugged driving. The BNC roadside drug tests are projected to save time and simplify the enforcement procedure by avoiding the need to take the suspected drugged drives to a police station, or health care facility, for testing. Completion of the proposed work promises a more convenient, cost-effective and comprehensive drug screening approach that may be applied for roadside testing of drivers at the point of arrest (POA).
Creation of NanoHealth Center for Early-Response to Acute Trauma and Injury
Source: Alliance for NanoHealth: Department of Defense
Scope: The McDevitt group’s role for this joint program that spans two research groups is to develop new methods for measurement of acute trauma biomarkers in urine samples.
Dates: 9/1/09 – 8/31/11
PI: John Holcombe
Development and Deployment of CD4 Counting Microchip Systems for Use in Resource-Scarce Settings
Source: Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Scope: This program served to expand upon the successful demonstration of the highly promising chip-based CD4 counting technology developed by the University of Texas at Austin and Harvard Medical School. With this accelerated effort, the already established and productive collaborative program between the Harvard Medical School Division of AIDS and the Chemistry/Biochemistry Department at the University of Texas at Austin was expanded to target the short-term development and deployment of important CD4 diagnostic instrumentation that is suitable for immediate use in resource-scarce settings.
