Collaborative Research: IRES: Development of Novel Paper-Based Devices to Assess the Quality of Pharmaceuticals and Water in the Developing World

St Mary'S College, Notre Dame IN

Investigators

Abstract

This IRES student training project will support research experiences in Nepal and Kenya by a total of 15 students (12 undergraduate and 3 graduate students) over three years. The students will develop, produce and evaluate paper-based devices used to test pharmaceutical quality and water quality. The primary goal of the project is to help students become more passionate about the power of science and engineering to solve global challenges while also developing valuable analysis and design skills. The project is led by principal investigator (PI) Dr. Toni Barstis of St. Mary's College, with co-PIs Dr. Reena Lamichhane Khadka and Dr. Donald Paetkau also of St. Mary's, and Dr. Marya Lieberman of the University of Notre Dame. The international mentors are Dr. Basant Giri of the Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences in Nepal, and Dr. Beatrice Jakait and Dr. Sonak Pastakia of the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare program (AMPATH) in Kenya. Estimates suggest that in developing countries such as Nepal and Kenya up to 30% of the medicines are falsified or substandard and up to 90% of the water sources may be contaminated with bacteria. However, most tests used in the U.S. to evaluate water or pharmaceutical purity are too complicated for use in developing countries, requiring steady power sources, ultrapure water or other expensive materials. The paper-based assays that this project will develop and evaluate are low-cost, require only small volumes of liquid, use readily available materials, and require no power source. The devices and this training have potential value anywhere a cheap, easy to use testing method is needed. Through this project U.S. students will have the opportunity to build competency as global scientists and engineers by developing collaborative relationships with students and research mentors in Nepal and Kenya, and seeing how their scientific knowledge can make a difference in communities. Applicants will be primarily chosen from St. Mary's College, an all-women liberal arts college, and from alumni of a Notre Dame REU that targeted students from primarily undergraduate institutions and included many women, first generation-to-attend-college students and underrepresented minorities, providing strong potential for this project to include a diverse range of student participants. Three cohorts of U.S. students will conduct research in the summers of 2017-2019 to develop paper-based, milli-fluidic analytical devices (PADs) to analyze pharmaceuticals and drinking water. Students will design and field-test the devices, comparing the outcomes from the PADs with "gold standard" analytical methods including High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and Mass Spectrometry (MS). Students will work at sites in Nepal and Kenya, where previous international collaborations by the PIs have laid the groundwork for safe living and working conditions for the participants and where the students can make genuinely useful contributions to ongoing projects led by the Nepali and Kenyan mentors. U.S. students traveling to Nepal and Kenya will first work together at their home institutions designing and manufacturing PADs, while in electronic contact with their international mentors and the international students who will be part of the research teams. The U.S. students will then spend at least four weeks in their respective country collecting samples, conducting field and lab testing, engaging in cultural activities, and meeting with experts and community members impacted by the research. Students will also be in electronic contact with the other country group to compare data and experiences during the time abroad. The summer program will conclude at the home institutions with further analyses and data validation, presentation locally and with international students electronically, and report preparation for presentation to the appropriate country agencies. Users of the research results may include: WHO RapidAlert Network, the Nepali Department of Drug Administration, the Nepal Water Supply Corporation, UNICEF-Nepal, and the Kenyan Pharmacy and Poisons Board.