Misfolding and aggregation of proteins, such as beta-amyloid (Aß), alpha-synuclein (a-syn), tau and TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43), have been strongly correlated with early onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease (AD), Parkinson's Disease (PD), Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and...

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is one of the most prevalent and feared neurodegenerative diseases associated with aging, characterized by progressive neuronal loss and cognitive dysfunction. AD affects nearly 5 million Americans, and unfortunately, there is no cure as of yet. Numerous studies have implicated oligomeric amyloid beta (Aß) aggregates as...

Chronic stress has been widely implicated in a plethora of lethal and life-altering diseases including diabetes, heart attacks, depression, Alzheimer's and osteoporosis. Thus, there is great interest in monitoring stress levels in the population. Stress has both biochemical and physiological effects on the body that can be quantified in bodily fluids....

Ovarian cancer is one of the most common cancers among women, with over 21,000 new cases and over 14,000 deaths per year. If detected early, the 5-year survival rate is over 80%, but that drops to just 11% if detected at stage IV, and over 60% of patients are diagnosed with advanced disease. Early detection is hampered by limitations in current biomarkers,...

Gastric cancer (GC) is a major public health problem in many countries, with more than 1 million new cases, worldwide, in 2018, contributing to almost 800,000 deaths. And new research suggests that GC may be on the rise in the US, particularly among younger adults. Early detection of GC often allows for greater therapeutic options, however, because...

Crohn’s disease (CD), is an inflammatory bowel disease that affects about 3 out of 1,000 people in the U.S. It is currently not known what causes CD, but hereditary, environmental factors and a dysregulated immune system are thought to play a role. Diagnosis of CD is difficult and often involves expensive imaging and invasive biopsies. Current...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune disease that affects about 1% of the world population and is characterized by synovial inflammation and joint destruction. Anti-citrullinated protein antibodies (ACPA) have been detected specifically in RA patients and may provide utility in RA risk assessment and diagnosis. ACPA levels correlate with...

Antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections cost billions of dollars to the US in healthcare and result in 2 million hospitalizations and 23,000 deaths. Clinical treatment of bacterial infections, especially in acute cases of sepsis, requires multiple steps, including antibiotic susceptibility tests (AST). Current AST techniques are slow and limited to...