Title: Biosensor platforms for molecular analyses of circulating exosomes

Dr. Huilin SHAO
Junior Investigator
Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology
Agency for Science, Technology and Research

About the speaker: Huilin Shao received her B.A. from Cornell University, with a double major in Biological Sciences and in Physics. She completed her PhD degree in Biophysics from Harvard University, under the guidance of Prof. Ralph Weissleder and Robert S. Langer. Concurrently, she finished her dual PhD program in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics, Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology (HST), Harvard Medical School. After a postdoctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, Huilin joined IMCB, A*STAR, as a junior investigator. Her research focuses on developing integrated nanotechnology-based platforms for molecular analyses of novel biomarkers.

Seminar abstract: The growing emphasis on personalized medicine significantly increases the need to analyze key molecular markers. In comparison to tissue biopsies, circulating biomarkers (liquid biopsies) can be conveniently and repeatedly obtained from biofluids with minimal complications. In particular, exosomes have recently emerged as a promising circulating biomarker. Exosomes are nanometer-sized membrane vesicles actively shed off by cells and possess unique advantages: they abound in biofluids, readily cross the blood brain barrier and harbor diverse molecular contents. A sensor platform capable of sensitive and rapid detection of exosomes would thus be an invaluable tool in translating their clinical potential. In this talk, I will describe various systems that I have developed for quantitative analyses of circulating cancer exosomes. By enabling rapid, sensitive and cost-effective detection of circulating biomarkers, these platforms could significantly expand the reach of preclinical and clinical research, in informing therapy selection, rationally directing trials, and improving sequential monitoring to achieve better clinical outcomes.