Vanier scholarship supports research using nanoparticles to diagnose disease

Paul Chen, a chemical engineering doctoral candidate, has received the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship to validate and continue his research of next generation diagnostics for infectious diseases. His work with Professor Frank Gu, Canada Research Chair in Nanotechnology Engineering, uses nano-sized gold particles as a means to detect and identify pathogens, the causative agents of infectious disease. The engineered nanoparticles ‘fingerprint’ and catalogue an unrestricted number of infectious agents for future identification.

This unique process, made possible because of the properties of scale when working with nanoparticles, could allow medical labs to quickly diagnose a multitude of infectious diseases through a single test. With conventional processes it can take 24 to 48 hours or more for correct identification; this nanotechnology-enabled process could reduce that time to 2 hours.

The scholarship recognizes the potential of nanotechnology in the future of medicine and Chen’s top academic achievement in this research. Nanotechnology allows researchers to study and use unique properties of nano-sized materials that are unavailable to their bulk counterparts. Chen and other research team members have already patented the fundamental process behind this research.

Chen is one of three doctoral students at Waterloo to receive the scholarship, worth up to $150,000 over three years. The Vanier program supports transformational research and attracts world class students working on a PhD. Each award is granted through one of three funding agencies: the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), or the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC).