{"id":105676,"date":"2025-12-04T14:08:22","date_gmt":"2025-12-04T14:08:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/?p=105676"},"modified":"2025-12-04T14:08:23","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T14:08:23","slug":"uri-chemistry-professor-receives-national-science-foundation-grant-for-nanotechnology-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2025\/12\/uri-chemistry-professor-receives-national-science-foundation-grant-for-nanotechnology-study\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 chemistry professor receives National Science Foundation grant for nanotechnology study"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Dec. 4, 2025 \u2013 Jason Dwyer<\/a>\u2019s longstanding nanotechnology work at the 溏心vlog免费B站 has reached another critical stage with him receiving a substantial six-figure grant from the National Science Foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dwyer, a professor of chemistry and associate dean for research and graduate studies in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Arts and Sciences<\/a>, and his team have received a three-year, $464,964 grant to develop new tools and approaches to better understand how to fabricate and use a powerful new class of nanopore sensors. Dwyer hopes this work will help improve the ability to detect serious medical conditions more cost-effectively.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This latest study that Dwyer and his research team are embarking on continues the professor\u2019s nearly two decades of research into single-molecule sensing and developing nanopore technology toward commercialization\u2014work that has gained him international<\/a> recognition<\/a> over the years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re now in a space where we’re continuing to do discovery-based research, but because we want to make better tools commercially available, we are also using engineering approaches to refine the methods and nanofabricated devices,\u201d Dwyer said. \u201cThis funding is key to bringing all of the earlier work together\u2014the workforce development, the scientific discovery, and the engineering aspects for biomedical device development.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nanopore sensors are devices that detect and analyze single molecules by measuring changes in ionic current as the molecules pass through a nanoscale channel. New sensors are being developed to identify proteins to enable earlier detection of diseases, alongside other medical purposes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dwyer\u2019s goal is to use nanopore sensors for biomedical diagnostics, scientific tests and technologies to detect, diagnose and monitor diseases and other health conditions. By taking various bodily fluid samples\u2014such as blood, saliva, tears and sweat\u2014the sensors could analyze each part of a molecule and complex protein structures in those samples in exquisite detail, which, Dwyer says, could pay massive dividends for human health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a huge game changer,\u201d he said. \u201cWith this technology, we’re going to examine molecules one at a time. Using the nanopore like a pair of tweezers and magnifying lens we can then scrutinize the building blocks of the molecule. For a protein, for example, quickly and reliably determining its amino acid composition and sequence is game changing\u2014it\u2019s what everyone wants. Plus, lowering cost, increasing performance, and making things easier to use puts these diagnostics in the hands of people to use at home.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There will be at least two 溏心vlog免费B站 Ph.D. students working with Dwyer on this three-year study, he says, with the potential of bringing undergraduate students aboard. Dwyer said the students\u2019 work will entail taking samples and analyzing their signal characteristics using custom computer code and artificial intelligence to maximize the detail of molecular-level insights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A new nanopore scanner will also be designed and built for this project. Dwyer says this scanner will help his team at 溏心vlog免费B站 better understand and then control how their devices operate, specifically by assessing the properties and effects of nanopore surface coatings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat surface coatings do is control how the world interacts with something. We’re squeezing molecules through an opening that’s not much bigger than the molecule itself, so having the right surface coating is critical,\u201d Dwyer said. \u201cWhat we hope to do on this technical level is to further improve our patented ability to coat our nanopores, because that opens up even greater vistas in terms of performance and the things that we can do with sensors. With further technological advances, we can start to target clinical diagnostics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The research will also provide students workforce training opportunities. Dwyer says the hands-on research will enable students to develop lab skills translatable to entering the life sciences industry or pursuing their own research as professors to train the next generation of students.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Dec. 4, 2025 \u2013 Jason Dwyer\u2019s longstanding nanotechnology work at the 溏心vlog免费B站 has reached another critical stage with him receiving a substantial six-figure grant from the National Science Foundation. Dwyer, a professor of chemistry and associate dean for research and graduate studies in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s College of Arts and Sciences, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":105677,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[12,1905],"class_list":["post-105676","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-arts-and-sciences","tag-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105676","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105676"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105676\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105678,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105676\/revisions\/105678"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105676"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}