Saint Mary’s & Notre Dame Professors Awarded Grant for PADs Research

August 3, 2016 (Notre Dame, IN) – The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded three Saint Mary’s College science professors and a University of Notre Dame chemistry professor nearly $200,000 to fund four research projects testing the quality of pharmaceuticals and water in developing nations. All the research utilizes a newly patented Paper Analytical Device (PAD) invented by researchers at Saint Mary’s and Notre Dame.

PAD WATER

The NSF-funded proposal, "Collaborative Research: IRES: Development of Novel Paper-Based Devices to Assess the Quality of Pharmaceuticals and Water in the Developing World," runs from September 1, 2016 to August 31, 2019. Saint Mary’s three projects concentrate on Nepal, while Notre Dame’s work focuses on Kenya.

Saint Mary’s faculty involved in the NSF-funded research include Toni L.O. Barstis, professor of chemistry and director of the Dual Degree in Engineering program with Notre Dame, Don W. Paetkau, associate professor of biology, and Reena Lamichhane-Khadka, assistant professor of biology, as well as Notre Dame’s Marya Lieberman, professor of chemistry and biochemistry. Barstis, Lieberman, and Patrick Flynn, the Duda Family Professor of Engineering and professor of computer science and engineering at Notre Dame, invented the PAD protected by US Patent No. 9,354,181.

“Our students want to use their biology and chemistry skills to do good in the world. Thanks to the NSF grant, more students can and will be involved with PADs research and making a difference in the world,” said Barstis. She, Lieberman, and their students have partnered in PADs research for several years.

The Saint Mary’s-led NSF-funded projects include research on campus and collaborative work with students and faculty at Kathmandu Institute of Applied Sciences (KIAS) in Nepal during the summer.

Barstis and Natalie Hartman ’16 began research in Nepal this summer with KIAS professor Basant Giri. This project is titled, “Using PADs to Screen for Low-Quality Drugs in Nepal.” Over the next three summers, researchers will purchase and test a total of 60-120 samples of select pharmaceuticals for contaminants or counterfeit ingredients.

NSF Grant

Paetkau will also work with Giri to study prednisone in their research titled, “Developing PADs to Screen for Prednisone in Naturopathic Drugs in Nepal”. Members of the Nepali Department of Drug Administration identified the drug as a problem contaminant in 2014 while meeting with the Saint Mary's College professors in Nepal.

Lamichhane-Khadka, a native of Nepal, will collaborate with Giri in research titled, “Developing PADs for the Detection of E. coli in Drinking Water in Nepal”. In developing nations, drinking water contaminated with microbial pathogens accounts for the majority of the deaths caused by diarrheal diseases.

“The students will work in a multidisciplinary student cohort, including undergraduate student researchers in Nepal, to design a simple, sensitive and economic paper-based microbial detection device — MicroBio PADs — that are suitable for assessing the microbiological quality of drinking water in resource-limited settings,” explained Lamichhane-Khadka.

Students from Saint Mary’s and Notre Dame may apply to participate in any of the projects. Undergraduates from other schools with research backgrounds in Saint Mary’s or Notre Dame labs may also apply. Students will be recruited in the fall semester, apply in December, and be selected and confirmed in January. The programs will each last nine weeks. For more information, contact Dr. Toni Barsitis at tbarstis@saintmarys.edu 

About Saint Mary's College: Celebrating over 175 years of empowering women to make a difference in the world, Saint Mary’s College is recognized as a pioneer and continued force in the education of women. A Catholic, liberal arts institution in Notre Dame, Indiana, the College offers more than 50 undergraduate academic programs and also offers co-educational master’s degrees.

Contact for News Media: Haleigh Ehmsen, Media Relations Associate, Saint Mary’s College, hehmsen@saintmarys.edu (574) 284-5343

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