Professor Ayokunle Olanrewaju has earned a Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences. The $2.1 million grant is for five years. Often referred to as “R35 awards,” these grants support broad research programs over the course of several years rather than discrete, individual projects. They are meant to provide the nation’s most talented and promising researchers “greater stability…enhancing scientific productivity and the chances for important breakthroughs,” according to NIH.
An NIH MIRA Award is a perfect match for a researcher and scholar like Ayo, since it provides a platform for creative, ambitious ideas, Princess Imoukhede
“An NIH MIRA Award is a perfect match for a researcher and scholar like Ayo, since it provides a platform for creative, ambitious ideas,” said UW Department of Bioengineering Chair Princess Imoukhuede. “It gives him increased flexibility, and that reflects the reputation for impact that Ayo and his team have earned.”
Research funded by the MIRA grant will focus on improvements to miniaturized mass spectrometers. Traditional mass spectrometers are the standard solution for many medical tests, forensic analyses, and environmental monitoring. But they are too bulky and expensive for use in many settings, and they require highly trained operators.
The team will introduce 3D-printed self-powered microfluidic technology into the spectrometers to improve sample preparation and analytical performance without compromising user-friendliness and significantly increasing cost. Olanrewaju and his team apply similar techniques to other medical devices, including those used by people who require regular medication monitoring like those who receive immunosuppressant medications to prevent organ transplant rejection. That work is part of a Beckman Young Investigator Award that he earned in 2024.
“Better miniature mass spectrometers will enable rapid, on-site biochemical analysis and diagnostics in resource-limited or rural environments, which can advance precision medicine, public health, and fundamental biomedical research. Their portability allows for real-time monitoring of disease biomarkers, therapeutic drug levels, and metabolic states directly at the point of care, facilitating timely interventions,” Olanrewaju said.
Introducing self-powered microfluidics into point-of-care mass spectrometers will allow clinicians more precise control of testing, reduce the volume of the blood samples needed for testing, and require less training and expertise to use.
“The cost and complexity of the fluid handling systems required in traditional microfluidic devices are a major barrier to their routine use in real-world settings,” he said. “The low-cost 3D printing of microfluidics that are powered by surface tension effects encoded into microchannel geometry and surface chemistry – thus, not requiring bulky and expensive pumps or valves – will change that.”
Olanrewaju will be collaborating with a team at the Colorado Antiviral Pharmacology Lab as part of the MIRA grant. Together, they’ll be optimizing a miniature mass spectrometer in order to improve its accuracy and precision in measuring antiretroviral drugs. Olanrewaju’s team will also be identifying ways to expand the technology to work on other small molecules, proteins, and nucleic acids.