Thursday, March 19, 2026 3/19/2026

Machine Perception Nanosensor Array Platform to Capture Whole Disease Fingerprints of Early Stage Pancreatic Cancer

Award Number: R00EB033580
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE Of BIOMEDICAL IMAGING & BIOENGINEERING
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2026

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Machine Perception Nanosensor Array Platform to Capture Whole Disease Fingerprints of Early Stage Pancreatic Cancer - Abstract of Funded Parent Grant – R00 EB033580 This project endeavors to build a Machine Perception Liquid Biopsy (MaPeLBx) platform technology to detect whole disease fingerprints from patient biofluids to facilitate diagnosis and biomarker discovery efforts in pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer is currently the fourth leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the US. The ability to diagnose pancreatic cancer at early stages would allow many patients to be actively treated, thereby greatly improving their outcomes. Serum biomarker measurements have been widely used as diagnostic/prognostic indicators, but many markers are insufficient for specific assessments of disease states. Major factors limiting precise diagnosis using these biomarkers include their low sensitivity at high specificity for diseases and the overall dearth of established molecular markers. Therefore, innovative approaches to improve disease detection and biomarker discovery are needed to achieve accurate identification of many conditions. I believe that the differentiation of disease from normal biofluids may be achieved by the detection of a “disease fingerprint” by collecting large data sets of molecular binding interactions to a diverse set of moderately selective sensors. A sensor array comprising quantum well-defect-modified carbon nanotubes (QWNTs) stabilized with biocompatible polymers transduces subtle differences in the physicochemical properties of molecules in biofluids. With sufficient diversity, the sensors can differentiate biofluids by disease status with the aid of machine learning. This platform will also be used to facilitate biomarker discovery efforts. In preliminary data, the responses collected from hundreds of patient samples and interpreted by machine learning algorithms can beat established serum biomarker measurements. I plan to leverage this technology to develop a robust diagnostic sensor platform to acquire disease fingerprints of pancreatic cancer in patient biofluids to significantly increase sensitivity and specificity over single biomarkers and to accelerate biomarker discovery processes. I propose to investigate 1) the potential of this technology for the early detection of pancreatic cancer, 2) the molecular mechanism of the response, and 3) the potential for this platform to enable the discovery of new biomarkers. In the award period, I aim to develop MaPeLBx technology with a focus on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) detection and optimize the workflow of machine learning-based model development. I aim to systematically investigate how to render the machine learning models transparent to understand the mechanism of high prediction accuracy and discover effective biomarker combinations for clinical validation studies. Successful completion of the proposed work will result in a validated platform to enable concomitant identification of early disease states and acceleration of protein biomarker discovery processes in pancreatic cancer.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $268,523 )
2026	2026	GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORP	926 DALNEY ST NW	ATLANTA	GA	30318	FULTON	USA	Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health	002	5	2/19/2026	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$25,386
2026	2026	GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORP	926 DALNEY ST NW	ATLANTA	GA	30318	FULTON	USA	Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health	001	5	1/22/2026	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$243,137
2026	2025	GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORP	926 DALNEY ST NW	ATLANTA	GA	30318	FULTON	USA	Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health	000	4	12/31/2025	OTHER REVISION	$0
														Subtotal = $268,523

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $174,342 )
2025	2025	GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORP	926 DALNEY ST NW	ATLANTA	GA	30318	FULTON	USA	Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health	000	4	11/7/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$174,342
2025	2025	GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORP	926 DALNEY ST NW	ATLANTA	GA	30318	FULTON	USA	Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health	001	4	5/19/2025	TERMINATION	$0
														Subtotal = $174,342

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $298,014 )
2024	2024	GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORP	926 DALNEY ST NW	ATLANTA	GA	30318	FULTON	USA	Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health	001	3	9/10/2024	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$49,014
2024	2024	GEORGIA TECH RESEARCH CORPORATION	926 DALNEY ST NW	ATLANTA	GA	30332	FULTON	USA	Discovery and Applied Research for Technological Innovations to Improve Human Health	000	3	12/4/2023	EXTENSION WITH OR WITHOUT FUNDS	$249,000
														Subtotal = $298,014

Grand Total All Awards = $740,879

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Machine Perception Nanosensor Array Platform to Capture Whole Disease Fingerprints of Early Stage Pancreatic Cancer

Award Number: R00EB033580

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE Of BIOMEDICAL IMAGING & BIOENGINEERING

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/01/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 11/30/2026

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