The proposed viral testing method will be developed for fast, easy and affordable use by healthcare providers at community testing centers.

A new research initiative involving VISHC-affiliated collaborators at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is opening up promising possibilities for more affordable and accessible viral testing. The project brings together Prof. Brian Cunningham, Prof. Enrique Valera Cano, and Prof. Rashid Bashir to develop a portable, low-cost, and rapid testing platform that can detect HIV, hepatitis B (HBV), and hepatitis C (HCV) from a small blood sample.

By focusing on speed, affordability, and ease of use, this work aims to help address one of the key barriers in infectious disease care: limited access to timely diagnostic tools. A more practical and widely deployable testing system could support earlier detection, improve screening in resource-constrained settings, and ultimately contribute to better health outcomes for patients and communities.

This milestone reflects the strength of interdisciplinary collaboration across engineering, biomedical science, and healthcare innovation – an approach that closely aligns with VISHC’s mission of advancing impactful translational research with real-world relevance.

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