Jayawardena NanoBiotechnology Research Group 

In-vitro Diagnostics - Rapid Point of Care Kits

Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health concern with an estimated 10.0 million cases and 1.3 million deaths resulting from the disease in 2017. TB is a highly contagious airborne disease and is spread through Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) bacilli. In our lab, we use magnetic concentration as a method of precipitating selectively precipitating mycobacteria from sputum sample visually detecting the presence of mycobacteria bacilli under 1 minute. A similar strategy is also employed for Chlamydia trachomatis a pathogenic bacteria which is the causative agent of sexually transmitted disease Chlamydia.

Targeted Drug Delivery Platforms

World Health Organization states, “In a post-antibiotic era common infections and minor injuries can kill-far from being an apocalyptic fantasy”. In the U.S. alone, antibiotic-resistant superbugs currently cause two million cases of illness and 23,000 deaths a year, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Our lab uses glycan biomarkers to target multi-drug resistant respiratory tract pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Mycobacteria bovis.  

Nanomaterial Synthesis

We specialize in producing high quality monodispersed well-characterized nanomaterial for different platforms. Our array of nanomaterial includes silica, mesoporous silica, hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles, iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles, hydrophobic and hydrophilic quantum dots, core-shell magnetic silica nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles.

Other Collaborative Projects

• Stabilizing matrices for antigen vaccines.

• pH-mediated drug delivery platforms for tumour sites.