For Release:        Immediate – June 10, 2020

Contact:               Timothy W. Scee II, Public Affairs Specialist

                             (315) 792-7307 | sceet@sunypoly.edu

ALBANY, NY – SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) today announced Empire Innovation Professor of Nanobioscience Dr. Nate Cady and Connecticut-based research partner Ciencia, Inc., have laid the groundwork to begin exploring a more sensitive detection platform to more efficiently diagnose Lyme Disease using a test developed at SUNY Poly.

Using Ciencia’s grating-coupled enhanced fluorescence platform, Dr. Cady’s team was able to diagnosis Lyme disease in under an hour with their test by using mere droplets of blood. This is a significant improvement over existing Lyme disease diagnostics, and the team foresees this technology being applied to a variety of other clinical problems, such as the detection of autoimmune diseases or infection, including COVID-19. Ongoing collaborations between Ciencia and Dr. Cady have explored several such applications with favorable results.

“We are very excited about our ongoing work with Ciencia on Lyme disease testing, and the potential to use this approach to diagnose other diseases,” Dr. Cady said. “This work emphasizes SUNY Poly’s unique ability to combine nanoscale engineering capabilities with the biological sciences to generate new technologies.”

“Lyme disease testing is historically inaccurate and challenging to interpret correctly,” Pilar said. “Dr. Cady’s preliminary results for Lyme disease diagnosis are very promising, and we have recently submitted a National Institutes of Health (NIH) proposal to continue this exciting research.”

In April, SUNY Poly announced Dr. Cady and Dr. Scott Tenenbaum were awarded funding to collaborate with Ciencia to develop a more complex novel coronavirus (COVID-19) diagnostic test that can provide additional data points to arm medical workers with the information they need to potentially improve patient care. For more information about this research, please visit: https://sunypoly.edu/news/news-release-suny-poly-professors-conducting-collaborative-research-leading-covid-19-test-also.html. 

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About SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly)

SUNY Poly is New York’s globally recognized, high-tech educational ecosystem. SUNY Poly offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the emerging disciplines of nanoscience and nanoengineering, as well as cutting-edge nanobioscience programs at its Albany campus, and undergraduate and graduate degrees in technology, including engineering, cybersecurity, computer science, and the engineering technologies; professional studies, including business, communication, and nursing; and arts and sciences, including natural sciences, mathematics, humanities, and social sciences at its Utica campus; thriving athletic, recreational, and cultural programs, events, and activities complement the campus experience. As the world’s most advanced, university-driven research enterprise, SUNY Poly boasts billions of dollars in high-tech investments and hundreds of corporate partners since its inception. For information visit www.sunypoly.edu.

About Ciencia, Inc.

Ciencia is a Connecticut-based research and development corporation with nearly three decades of experience translating innovations in basic physics into advanced solutions for our customers. Ciencia now offers refined instrumentation that uses state-of-the-art optical technologies to improve fluorescent signals, reducing cost and adding value to widely-used tools for biomedical research and clinical diagnostics. For information visit www.ciencia.com.