Abstract
We have developed microwell arrays as a platform for both fundamental discovery and bioanalytical measurements. The microwells can be used as miniature reaction chambers to measure the kinetics of individual enzyme molecules and observe phenomena that cannot be seen using bulk techniques. The arrays can also be used to measure the concentrations of proteins and nucleic acids more than a thousand times lower than traditional assays. This ultrasensitivity provides the ability to measure molecules in biological samples, such as blood, at levels that cannot be detected using conventional methods. The translation of these technologies from the laboratory to the commercial sector as well as to the clinic will also be described.
Biography
David R. Walt is the Hansjorg Wyss Professor of Bioinspired Engineering at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is a Core Faculty Member of the Wyss Institute at Harvard University and is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor. Previously, he was University Professor at Tufts University. Dr Walt is the Scientific Founder of Quanterix Corp and has co-founded several other life sciences startups including Illumina Inc., Ultivue, Inc. and Arbor Biotechnologies. He has received numerous national and international awards and honours for his fundamental and applied work in the field of optical microwell arrays and single molecules. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, and a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. He has published over 300 papers and holds nearly 100 patents. He received a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Michigan and a PhD in chemical biology from SUNY at Stony Brook and did postdoctoral studies at MIT.