Professor
yagerp@uw.edu
Phone: (206) 543-6126
Office: Foege N530J
UW Bioengineering faculty Paul Yager

Paul Yager

Lab Website

How I am inventing the future of medicine

Our lab focuses on development of a new class of low cost point-of-care diagnostic technologies.  These utilize microfluidics, particularly paper-based systems imaged by cell phones.  Our long range goal is increasing access to healthcare in the developed and developing worlds. We are hoping see these technologies commercialized in the near future with partners inside and outside UW.

Microfluidics
Immunoassays
Nucleic acid assays
Paper
2DPN
Microfluidics 2.0
Uses of smart phones for bioassays
Point-of-care diagnostics
Decentralization of medical testing
Global health

The two major lines of research in the lab at this time focus on the use of what we call two-dimension paper networks (2DPNs):
1) Development of new high-sensitivity paper-based protein-binding assays for pathogens like the influenza and Ebola viruses
2) Development of the first instrument-free point-of-care technology for sample-to-result detection of pathogens using isothermal nucleic acid amplification.
Both projects involve collaborations with multiple organizations, including nonprofits and industry. Work in the lab includes physical biochemistry, immunoassay development, materials science, development of optical methods for sensitive chemical detection, nucleic acid amplification, microfabrication, cell-phone imaging, and computational fluid dynamics. Every effort is made to see to it that the technology being developed is compatibly with the technical, social and economic constraints the apply for use in low-resource communities.

Ph.D., University of Oregon, Chemistry, 1980
AB, Princeton University, Biochemistry, 1975

1980-82 NRC Resident Research Associate, Naval Research Laboratory

2017 Elected Fellow, National Academy of Inventors
2015 UW College of Engineering Faculty Award: Research
2014 Seattle Business Magazine’s Leaders in Health Care Award
2013 Elected to Washington State Academy of Sciences
2012 Seattle Magazine’s Top Doctors 2012: Global Health Award, 2012
1999 Selected as a member of the College of Fellows, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE)

BIOEN 573 Biosensors, Principles and Practice
BIOEN 401 Capstone Design
BIOEN 599C and D Microfabrication for Bioengineering Applications,
BIOEN 578 Biomembranes

A disposable chemical heater and dry enzyme preparation for lysis and extraction of DNA and RNA from microorganisms, Buser, J.R., Zhang, X., Byrnes, S.A., Ladd, P.D., Heiniger, E.K., Wheeler, M.D., Bishop, J.D., Englund, J.A., Lutz, B., Weigl, B.H., and Yager, P., Analytical Methods, 8: 2880-2886 (2016)
Immobilizing affinity proteins to nitrocellulose: a toolbox for paper-based assay developers, Holstein, C.A., Chevalier, A., Bennett, S., Anderson, C., Olsen, C., Li, B., Bales, B., Moore, D., Fu, E., Baker, D. and Yager, P., Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 408(5): 1335-1346 (2016)

Comparison of point-of-care-compatible lysis methods for bacteria and viruses, Heiniger, E.K., Buser, J.R., Mireles, L., Zhang, X., Ladd, P.D., Lutz, B.R., and Yager, P., Journal of Microbiological Methods, 128: 80-87 (2016)
A rapid, instrument-free, sample-to-result nucleic acid amplification test, Lafleur, L.K., Bishop, J.D., Heiniger, E.K.,

Gallagher, R.P., Wheeler, M.D., Kauffman, P., Kline, E.C., Zhang, X.H., Buser, J.R., Kumar, S., Byrnes, S.A., Vermeulen, N.M.J., Scarr, N.K., Belousov, Y., Mahoney, W., Toley, B.J., Ladd, P.D., Lutz, B.R. and Yager, P., Lab on a Chip, 16: 3777-3787 (2016)

Single-use paper-based hydrogen fuel cells for point-of-care diagnostic applications, Esquivel, J.P., Buser, J.R., Lim, C.W., Domínguez, C., Rojas, S., Yager, P. and Sabaté, N., Journal of Power Sources, 342. 442-451 (2017)

Disposable autonomous device for rapid swab-to-result diagnosis of influenza, Huang, S., Abe, K., Bennett, S., Liang, T., Ladd, P.D., Yokobe, L., Anderson, C.E., Shah, K., Bishop, J., Purfield, M., Kauffman, P.C., Paul, S., Welch, A-E., Strelitz, B., Follmer, K., Pullar, K., Sanchez-Erebia, L., Gerth-Guyette, E., Domingo, G., Klein, E., Englund, J.A., Fu, E., Yager, P. Analytical Chemistry, 89 (11), 5776-5783 (2017)

Rapid diagnostic assay for intact influenza virus using a high affinity hemagglutinin binding protein, Anderson, C.E., Holstein, C.A., Strauch, E-M., Bennett, S., Chevalier, A., Nelson, J.W., Fu, E., Baker, D. and Yager, P. Analytical Chemistry, 89(12):6608–6615 (2017)

Enabling lateral transport of genomic DNA through porous membranes for point-of-care applications, Byrnes, S.A., Bishop, J.D. and Yager, P. Analytical Methods, 9(23) 3450-3463 (2017)

Computational design of trimeric influenza neutralizing proteins targeting the hemagglutinin receptor binding site, Strauch, E.M., Bernard, S.M., La, D., Bohn, A.J., Lee, P.S., Anderson, C.E., Nieusma, T., Holstein, C.A., Garcia, N.K., Hooper, K.A., Ravichandran, R., Nelson,J.W., Sheffler, W., Bloom, J.D., Lee, K.K., Ward, A.B., Yager, P., Fuller, D.H., Wilson, I.A., and Baker, D., Nature Biotechnology, 35(7), 667-671 (2017)
Wavelengths and lifetimes of paper autofluorescence: a simple substrate screening process to enhance the sensitivity of fluorescence-based assays in paper, Shah, K.G. and Yager, P., Analytical Chemistry, 89(22), 12023-12029 (2017)

Mobile phone ratiometric imaging enables highly sensitive fluorescence lateral flow immunoassays without external optical filters, Shah, K.G., Singh, V, Kauffman, P.D., Abe, K. and Yager, P., Analytical Chemistry, 90(11), 6967-6974 (2018)

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