Leidong Mao
Leidong Mao was awarded a National Science Foundation CAREER Award for his work to refine a device to manipulate blood cells and other particles. The device shows promise in detecting and treating blood diseases.
For years scientists have tried to increase the speed and accuracy of detecting abnormal cells and related matter in blood samples. These tests often take days or weeks, and mistaken analyses—“false positives” and “false negatives”—occur because diseased cells and particles are often present in low quantities and minute sizes.
The apparatus that Mao is developing to gather diseased cells not only promises to provide faster and more accurate results than other blood assays, it also will be portable.