Point-of-care zinc test strips to verify infant zinc medicines in low-resource settings
Official title: Point of Care Technologies for Nutrition, Infection, and Cancer for Global Health (PORTENT)
Funded at Cornell University · NIH-11631157 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A fast, low-cost smartphone‑based test strips method checks zinc-containing infant medicines in places with limited lab access.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Cornell University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Ithaca, United States) |
| Project start | September 23, 2026 |
| Project end | July 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $96,102 |
| NIH project number | 3U54EB034654-04S1 |
| Project ID | NIH-11631157 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are infants and caregivers in low-resource settings where zinc-based therapeutics are distributed.
✕Less likely to help
Sites without zinc-containing products or no implementation setting may not benefit.
What this research studies
This project aims to turn zinc quality checks into a quick field test. By using disposable strips, a fluorescent probe, and a smartphone reading, a whole test can be done in about five minutes without laboratory equipment. It focuses on making sure zinc-containing medicines meet safety standards at the point of care, reducing the chance that substandard products reach babies. The approach builds on a proven detection mechanism and works with common zinc formulations detectable by a portable setup. If successful, it could dramatically cut costs and time for quality control in global health programs.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Patients could receive safer zinc medicines for infants with faster, affordable quality checks.
How similar studies have gone: Previous approaches showed that simple test strips with smartphone readouts can enable rapid field testing in resource-limited environments.
Where this research is happening
-
Cornell University
Ithaca, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Erickson, David Carl — Cornell University
- Study coordinator: Erickson, David Carl
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.