This award will provide funds to develop a new microchip technology for at-home sexually transmitted infections rapid tests.

NEW YORK, December 3rd, 2024 — Glaucus, a healthcare technology startup founded by two faculty of the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, has been selected by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) as an awardee of the Sprint for Women's Health, to address critical unmet challenges in women's health, champion transformative innovations, and tackle health conditions that uniquely or disproportionately affect women.

Glaucus, with NYU Tandon and McMaster University as subcontractors, will receive $3 million over two years through the Sprint for Women's Health spark track for early-stage research efforts. The funding will support the development of novel microchip-based technology for comprehensive at-home rapid testing of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

"STIs have been declared a public health emergency in the United States, with girls and women between 14 and 24 years old particularly at risk," said Elisa Riedo, a Glaucus co-founder and the NYU Tandon Herman F. Mark Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. "Undetected STIs can cause severe complications including infertility, pregnancy complications, organ damage, and cancer. Affordable, private, at-home rapid testing will protect women's health while reducing healthcare costs, preventing STI spread, and limiting antibiotic resistance."

Founded in February 2024 by Riedo and Davood Shahrjerdi, NYU Tandon Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, along with UC Berkeley professor Alberto Sangiovanni-Vincentelli, Glaucus builds on six years of pioneering collaborative research in microchip diagnostics between Riedo and Shahrjerdi.

The company launched through NYU Tandon’s Future Labs - an incubation program that supports new ventures and helps move NYU healthcare research from lab to market.
“Glaucus's innovative technology, first developed at NYU, uses field-effect transistors (FETs) - miniature electronic sensors that directly detect biological markers and convert them into digital signals - offering an alternative to traditional color-based chemical diagnostic tests like home pregnancy tests,” said Shahrjerdi. “This advanced approach enables faster results, testing for multiple diseases simultaneously, and immediate data transmission to healthcare providers.”

"The ARPA-H award validates our mission to revolutionize at-home diagnostics through biosensing technology," said George Magaud, President and Treasurer of Glaucus. "While our company's long-term vision is to bring accurate rapid testing solutions to market for various health conditions, this funding’s focus on STI testing technology helps us potentially deliver a crucial advance to women's healthcare. By removing barriers to regular testing, we can help women detect health issues earlier, reduce healthcare disparities, and ultimately improve outcomes for millions of people."

ARPA-H sought solutions within six topics of interest in women’s health, and received an unprecedented response of submissions. ARPA-H launched the Sprint for Women’s Health in February, with First Lady Jill Biden announcing the funding as the first major deliverable from the White House Initiative on Women’s Health Research.

The ARPA-H Sprint for Women's Health is conducted in collaboration with the Investor Catalyst Hub of ARPANET-H, the agency's nationwide health innovation network that connects people, innovators, and institutions to accelerate better health outcomes for everyone. Glaucus will work with an ARPA-H Program Manager and the Investor Catalyst Hub over two years to develop their proposed solution, receiving milestone-based payments aligned to research activities and performance objectives.

About Glaucus
Founded in 2024 as a part of NYU Tandon School of Engineering's Future Lab network, which has supported technology startups for fifteen years as New York City's first publicly funded technology incubator, Glaucus is developing novel microchip-based technology for accurate, at-home diagnostic testing. Led by researchers from NYU and UC Berkeley, the company combines expertise in nanoscale chemical patterning and nanoelectronics to create next-generation diagnostic solutions. Learn more at www.glaucustechnology.com.