Professor Paul Yager, an expert in low-cost point-of-care diagnostic technologies, and his team received $75,000 in support from the Innovation Gap Fund in June. The award has allowed the team to develop inexpensive, paper-based tests that will allow individuals to frequently monitor multiple biomarkers in blood or other biofluids in their homes.

The startup UbiDX is in the process of licensing the testing system, with an eye toward bringing the technology to mobile devices and combining it with AI-based explanation of test results. Yager is UbiDX’s Chief Scientific Officer.

By enabling individuals to track markers of inflammation and other early signs of disease more routinely, and to adjust lifestyle factors and medication early, the system aims to prevent flare-ups, manage disease progression and even prevent the onset of disease through early risk detection, all in a cost-effective and user-friendly way. It could be used to address everything from rheumatoid arthritis and lupus to cardiovascular diseases to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Current testing methods are expensive, inconvenient and infrequent, limiting the ability to manage these conditions effectively.

The Innovation Gap Fund program supports proof-of-concept and business development activities to advance promising innovations that have the potential to enable new products and services. It is supported by UW’s entrepreneurship hub called CoMotion, Population Health Initiative, and the Washington Research Foundation, as well as donors.

This work also received a grant through the Washington Research Foundation’s commercialization program in 2024.