Dr. Shana Kelley
NSERC announced today that Professor Shana Kelley is one of six 2010 NSERC E.W.R. Steacie Memorial Fellowship recipients. Each fellow receives a research grant of $250,000 and the university normally receives a contribution to the fellow’s salary to provide teaching and administrative relief. Shana will use the funding to further her studies on the development of chip-based sensors.
From the NSERC press release…
Shana is intent on developing low-cost diagnostic technologies to be used in developing countries. She has developed a chip-based sensor (see September 28, 2009 listing) that can detect trace quantities of DNA, RNA and protein analytes in samples, and that has already been applied for early diagnosis of cancer. Shana is further developing this technology for tuberculosis detection. This involves the development of new nanomaterials that will enable sensitive sensors to detect minuscule traces of the deadly tuberculosis pathogen. The current tools used for diagnosis in the parts of the world most affected by tuberculosis and similar diseases require relatively large samples and are too slow to provide the level of control needed to reign in the spread of infection.
