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Nanomaterial Biosensors & Diagnostics

Summary of the Impact:

The Nanolab Research Centre at TU Dublin is delivering significant advances in toxin detection, rapid diagnostics, and nanomaterial-based biosensor innovation. Fungal toxins pose global threats to food safety, public health, and agricultural sustainability. Nanolab’s work addresses these risks by creating highly sensitive, portable analytical tools that detect contaminants quickly and reliably. Over the past decade, the group has collaborated with major industry partners including 3M, Hygiena, PepsiCo, CSL Behring, Trinity Biotech, Pfizer, Alexion, Oriflame, Grifols, Abbott, Screenlink Healthcare, and others. These partnerships have produced patented technologies, commercial prototypes, and industry-ready diagnostic systems. The team has supported 24 industry projects across nine companies, resulting in measurable economic benefit for Irish SMEs.

The group also contributes substantially to talent development: five PhD students and three ARISE scholars are embedded across industry partners, strengthening Ireland’s workforce in areas such as biopharma, diagnostics, food safety, and sustainable manufacturing. The research has secured significant Enterprise Ireland funding, supported international conference participation, and generated extensive academic outputs. TU Dublin has recognised this work through awards including the 2024 Research Innovation Award. Nanolab’s advancements are directly improving food safety, health protection, and industrial innovation in Ireland and internationally.

Research Description:

The research programme focuses on the creation of next-generation biosensors using

advance nanomaterials—particularly digital lateral flow nano-strip analytical kits with point-of-care capability. These systems provide rapid, sensitive detection of toxins, pathogens, and contaminants in food, pharmaceuticals, water, and biological samples. The work began in 2016 with TU Dublin fellowships and Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation funding. In 2021, the team expanded its translational focus through the Enterprise Ireland Career Plus fund, bringing in industry expertise from Dr Giovani Estrada and Dr Bilal Javed.

A major breakthrough was achieved through collaboration with Technology Gateway MiCRA to secure an Enterprise Ireland Capital Grant for automated lateral flow strip production equipment (BioDot XYZ3060). This system allows automated dispensing of antibodies and colloidal reporters on the lateral flow membranes, their lamination, and cutting—enabling industrial-scale production of prototype analytical strips. Early industry adopters have already used this capacity to test and advance their own diagnostic innovations.

Projects include development of lateral flow immunochemistry systems for mycotoxins and seafood toxin detection, bioconjugate-based Salmonella detection with PepsiCo, and evaluation of nanomaterial-based platforms for improved sensitivity. The research integrates nanotechnology, analytical chemistry, biosensing engineering, machine learning, and immunochemistry. The team also engages widely with innovation networks, presenting at industry events, COST Actions, and national showcase programmes.

Three ARISE PhD scholars have completed secondments with Screenlink Healthcare, Trinity

Biotech, and Pfizer. Their research has directly benefited from industry feedback through meetings with SGS Ireland, the Midlands Flavour Forward event, and other sectoral engagements. These interactions ensure that Nanolab’s research remains aligned with real-world needs. The team’s multidisciplinary outputs include more than 20 peer-reviewed publications from undergraduate projects alone, reflecting extensive integration of research into teaching, training, and skills development.

Description of the Impact:

Nanolab’s work has produced tangible industrial, scientific, and societal impacts. The team’s development of an Aflatoxin B1 detection strip has direct importance for food safety, supporting Irish poultry, dairy, and grain producers. The CareerFit-funded digital nanostrip for mycotoxin risk analysis demonstrates strong commercial potential. Additional work—such as AI-supported platforms for sustainable biomanufacturing—broadens the project’s reach into new industrial domains.

The collaboration with PepsiCo is a key example of impact. The proposed multimodal nanostructure bioconjugates provide faster, more sensitive Salmonella detection, reducing risk in global food supply chains. Findings were published in *Nanomaterials* (DOI: 10.3390/nano12213917).

The automated strip development equipment has enabled 24 collaborative industry projects in two years, valued at €1.1 million, with projected growth of up to 35% annually. This capacity is particularly important for Irish SMEs, who lack access to advanced diagnostic manufacturing infrastructure.

Nanolab’s research has supported 22 PhDs and 45 undergraduate projects, strengthening Ireland’s STEM talent pipeline. The team has organised more than 10 conferences, engaged 2,000+ delegates, and contributed to 10 COST Actions. Members serve on over 20 editorial boards and have reviewed 500+ academic papers. Dr Bilal Javed has been recognised among the global top 2% most cited scientists (Stanford/Elsevier).

Industry partners have benefited directly: Screenlink Healthcare has advanced product development and grown its leadership team; Trinity Biotech has increased point-of-care sales by 158%; SMEs have improved diagnostics capacity and export potential. The Nanolab research centre has now progressed to achieving GreenLab certification, reinforcing sustainable research practice.

SDG Goals Contribution:

  • SDG 2 – Zero Hunger (Targets 2.1, 2.4; Indicators 2.1.2, 2.4.1)
    • Nanomaterial-based diagnostics reduce foodborne contamination and improve global food safety.
  • SDG 3 – Good Health and Wellbeing (Targets 3.3, 3.d; Indicators 3.3.5, 3.d.1)
    • Rapid detection systems strengthen early warning and health risk monitoring.
  • SDG 4 – Quality Education (Targets 4.3, 4.4; Indicators 4.3.1, 4.4.1)
    • The research supports advanced STEM training across undergraduate, postgraduate, and industry-aligned programmes.
  • SDG 9 – Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure (Targets 9.5, 9.b; Indicators 9.5.1, 9.b.1)
    • The Nanolab strengthens Ireland’s diagnostic innovation ecosystem, supporting indigenous SMEs and multinational partners.

 Evidence and Sources:

Testimonials:

 ‘The internship at Trinity Biotech provides ARISE PhD student with valuable insights into the inner workings of a leading development, manufacture, and marketing of clinical diagnostic products, exposing them to industry best practices, regulatory requirements, and the commercialization process.’

‘We manufacture at scale, later-flow immunochemistry strips for mass production and sale on the open market. I am very happy to collaborate on this research project and provide my expertise for the optimization of multimodal nanomaterials as well as in the characterization of nano-bioconjugates and sample pads and product development. ‘

  • Christopher Lai, Technical Production Manager

 Research References:

    1. Thenuwara, G., Javed, B., Singh, B., Byrne, H. J., & Tian, F. (2024). Sex- and Gender-Specific Considerations in Mycotoxin Screening: Assessing Differential Exposure, Health Impacts, and Mitigation Strategies. Microbiology Research, 15(4), 2455-2492. https://doi.org/10.3390/microbiolres15040165 .
    2. Sharma V, Javed B, Byrne HJ, Tian F. Mycotoxin Detection through Colorimetric Immunoprobing with Gold Nanoparticle Antibody Conjugates. Biosensors (Basel). 2024 Oct 10;14(10):491. https://doi.org/10.3390/bios14100491.
    3. Zhao, X., Byrne, H. J., O’Connor, C. M., Curtin, J., & Tian, F. (2022). Limits of Detection of Mycotoxins by Laminar Flow Strips: A Review. Applied Nano, 3(2), 91-101. https://doi.org/10.3390/applnano3020006.
    4. Sojinrin T, Liu K, Wang K, Cui D, J Byrne H, Curtin JF, Tian F. Developing Gold Nanoparticles-Conjugated Aflatoxin B1 Antifungal Strips. Int J Mol Sci. 2019 Dec 12;20(24):6260. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms20246260.
    5. Shahjahan, T., Javed, B., Sharma, V., & Tian, F. (2023). Overview of Various Components of Lateral-Flow Immunochromatography Assay for the Monitoring of Aflatoxin and Limit of Detection in Food Products: A Systematic Review. Chemosensors, 11(10), 520. https://doi.org/10.3390/chemosensors11100520.