Undergraduate Research & Scholarships

Candace Wang Sciences

Rapid Point-of-Care Diagnostic Assay for COVID-19

As of April 3rd, 2020, there are over a million coronavirus cases worldwide, with more people testing positive every day. With SARS-nCoV-2 being able to transmit from person to person without showing any symptoms, there is a high potential of the virus rapidly transmitting throughout a population undetected. A lack of personal protective equipment (PPE), rapid diagnostic tests, and proper ventilation equipment for those infected have contributed to the global public health crisis we see today. Candace Wang will test and optimize isothermal DNA amplification technologies followed by fluorescence detection in order to create a rapid point-of-care diagnostic test. If successful, this will provide a test that is easily accessible and widely available thus providing public health officials a better estimate of the severity of the problem we face globally.

Profile image of Candace Wang
Major: Molecular and Cellular Biology and Classical Civilizations, Education Minor
Mentor: Mentor: Charles Chiu, Laboratory Medicine at UCSF and Robert Beatty, Molecular & Cell Biology
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