Dr. Xuanhong Cheng, a current Lehigh University assistant professor in the department of material sciences and engineering, is developing an inexpensive method of diagnosing HIV in the field. In an effort to combat the virus, Cheng and her team are working to create a handheld diagnostic device for use by health workers in the most heavily HIV stricken regions of the globe. The device would allow relief workers a far more efficient, quicker alternative to diagnostic options currently available.
Cheng, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School before her arrival at Lehigh, focuses research on biomaterials, biological microelectromechanical systems, and global health diagnostics. Her novel HIV test, now in development for field testing, utilizes microfluidic chips developed by Cheng to test whole blood cells without the need for cell preparation. Due to the work of Cheng and her team of medical researchers at Lehigh University, a future end to the globe’s AIDS crisis could be closer than ever.
