Fast blood test to find bacteria and tell which antibiotics will work
Official title: Rapid ID and AST Directly from Whole Blood Using Single Molecule Detection
Funded at Scanogen, INC. · NIH-11249969 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A new blood test that finds bacteria and shows which antibiotics will work for people with suspected bloodstream infections.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Scanogen, INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Baltimore, UNITED STATES) |
| Project start | January 30, 2023 |
| Project end | December 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $796,572 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AI175063-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11249969 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people with suspected bloodstream infections or sepsis who need rapid identification of the infecting bacteria and guidance on effective antibiotics.
✕Less likely to help
Patients without bloodstream infection, with infections confined to other body sites, or whose blood tests are affected by prior antibiotics may not benefit from this approach.
What this research studies
If you have a suspected bloodstream infection, this project is building a fast blood test that works directly on whole blood using a single-molecule detection method called SMOLT. The test is designed to identify bacteria within about an hour and determine antibiotic susceptibility within 4–6 hours by briefly exposing detected bacteria to antibiotics and measuring responses. The team reports lab results that can detect very low levels of bacteria (1–10 colony-forming units per mL) and aims to make the test simple and low-cost for hospital use. Ultimately you would get identification and antibiotic guidance much sooner than with standard blood-culture methods.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, patients could receive targeted antibiotics within hours instead of days, reducing use of broad-spectrum drugs and improving treatment outcomes.
How similar studies have gone: Other direct-from-blood rapid diagnostic tests have shown promise, but combining fast identification with reliable rapid antibiotic-susceptibility testing is less established, making this approach promising but relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
Scanogen, INC.
Baltimore, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Celedon, Alfredo Andres — Scanogen, INC.
- Study coordinator: Celedon, Alfredo Andres
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.