Mission
The POCDx Idea Lab was created in 2008 for the development and promotion of Point-of-Care Diagnostic (POCDx) systems at UC Berkeley. POCDx systems are miniaturized disease diagnosis devices designed to be inexpensive, portable, and field-ready with high sensitivity and specificity. Their impact will be particularly significant in the developing world, where small and low-cost medical systems are urgently needed to diagnose large populations suffering from often neglected diseases. UC Berkeley is a leader in biotechnology and lab-on-a-chip engineering, as well as global health and neglected disease research. The university is poised to make a significant impact on health and medicine in the developing world.
The POCDx Idea Lab is intended to bring together students from various fields of engineering, as well as experts in the area of healthcare in the developing world to foster productive and translatable technological research for neglected diseases and developing world healthcare. The main focus of the Idea Lab is to encourage and guide the development of practical POCDx systems that address specific needs in global healthcare. The goal of this Idea Lab will be to eventually grow into a research and design center that facilitates the realization of novel POCDx ideas by providing equipment and materials for students to build and test their systems.
Our group is open to undergraduate and graduate students, post-docs, and faculty. Our bi-weekly meetings provide a valuable forum for engineers, scientists, and medical researchers to discuss the work they are involved in, exchange insights and ideas, and network with colleagues in other fields. In addition to these meetings, we periodically host guest speakers from industry and academia. To address the challenges facing modern health care, it is important that individuals from disparate fields collaborate. The POCDx Idea Lab aims to foster that collaboration.
The POCDx Idea Lab is intended to bring together students from various fields of engineering, as well as experts in the area of healthcare in the developing world to foster productive and translatable technological research for neglected diseases and developing world healthcare. The main focus of the Idea Lab is to encourage and guide the development of practical POCDx systems that address specific needs in global healthcare. The goal of this Idea Lab will be to eventually grow into a research and design center that facilitates the realization of novel POCDx ideas by providing equipment and materials for students to build and test their systems.
Our group is open to undergraduate and graduate students, post-docs, and faculty. Our bi-weekly meetings provide a valuable forum for engineers, scientists, and medical researchers to discuss the work they are involved in, exchange insights and ideas, and network with colleagues in other fields. In addition to these meetings, we periodically host guest speakers from industry and academia. To address the challenges facing modern health care, it is important that individuals from disparate fields collaborate. The POCDx Idea Lab aims to foster that collaboration.