Elias Smyej
DC 2 - Aptamer biosensors for lateral flow assay based diagnostics platforms
About your project
My DC project investigates aptamer biosensors for lateral flow assay based diagnostics platforms. As part of my project, I plan to complete secondments at different institutions.
Main Supervisor: Prof.
Beatrix Suess (TUD)
Main Supervisor: Dr. Velia Siciliano (IIT)
Supervisor: Dr. Ralf Strasser
About you
I studied pharmacy at the University of Montpellier in order to have an academic background at the intersection between clinical and hard science. Pharmacy studies take place over six years in France, with the last two years focusing on a particular pathway, research in my case, with a specialised master’s degree in the final year. I had the chance to join the Master’s in Systems and Synthetic Biology at the Université Paris-Saclay. During my six years of study, I had some interesting internship opportunities. Firstly, in Montpellier, where I did an internship related to oncology and nanovectors. Then, in Germany, I undertook two different placements in the field of diagnostics in a Point-of-Care (POC) context using RNA. The biosensors were aptamers at the Technical University of
Darmstadt and CRISPR-Cas13 at the Max Delbrück Centre – Berlin Institute for Medical Systems Biology (MDC-BIMSB). Alongside my studies, and most recently on a six-month contract, I have always worked as a pharmacist to stay close to the needs of patients and medical staff. I expect the SYNSENSO doctoral network to provide an enriching environment of knowledge sharing on a European scale. I see it as a great opportunity for SynBio diagnostics.