University of Utah electrical and computer engineering professor Massood Tabib-Azar began inventing a sensor to detect Zika virus in 2019 after seeing pictures of babies born with birth defects attributed to infections that happen during pregnancy.
However, during his research, a new virus emerged on the world stage. Maybe you’ve heard of it? It’s called COVID-19.
While the world was shutting down as the virus spread, Tabib-Azar was just starting. “I personally was working in the lab until 2 o’clock in the middle of the night,” he said, to convert his Zika sensor into one that could quickly detect COVID-19.
The portable device that contains the reusable sensor is about the size of a car key fob and delivers results in under one minute. Other rapid COVID tests take around 15 minutes.
Tabib-Azar received a $200,000 National Science Foundation Rapid Response Research (RAPID) grant to help him develop the prototype, but once he was sure the device would work, he needed help figuring out how to get it out of his lab and into the hands of consumers.
“When I started this, commercialization was the farthest thing on my mind. I started this because I wanted to solve a problem,” he said. However, he realized that the “natural next step” for the product was commercialization, and that’s when he turned to the PIVOT Center.
His relationship with PIVOT — the U’s technology commercialization office — turned into a partnership that allowed him to not just patent the design but further his research and ensure it would be accessible to average people. He and Aaron Duffy, an associate director of innovation and commercialization at PIVOT, spent countless hours on Zoom calls discussing what the product was, how to make it easier and faster to use, and how to get it in front of companies who could license it.
“Without PIVOT this would have just been like some publications,” Tabib-Azar said. “I personally learned a lot. With PIVOT on board, I learned lots of other stuff that I wouldn’t have learned by just doing the research.”
In addition to his knowledge of licensing and commercialization, Duffy, who has a PhD in biochemistry and molecular genetics, added his scientific expertise to Tabib-Azar’s to continue improving the product. “It was a good partnership.”
Find something that you're really passionate about, do it to the best of your ability, and then make sure that it doesn't go away in some journal publications, and you get PIVOT to do it for you.
The COVID sensor was licensed to multiple groups. For example, an Australian company is working on a trial in Malaysia and hopes to develop more sensors with Tabib-Azar to detect other diseases like tuberculosis.
Tabib-Azar’s sensor invention will continue to be impactful as he pivots the design to other diseases. As the global population grows, he said, “people are predicting that we are going to be dealing with things like COVID and other respiratory diseases more often.”
As Tabib-Azar continues to work on developing these sensors, he encouraged his colleagues to pursue research about things they are passionate about.
“Find something that you're really passionate about, do it to the best of your ability, and then make sure that it doesn't go away in some journal publications, and you get PIVOT to do it for you.”
