SARS-CoV-2 has infected more than 22 million people globally, leading to ~800 thousand deaths in just 10 months. However, significant uncertainty still remains regarding the prevalence of asymptomatic and mild cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, as well as the magnitude, effectiveness, and duration of antibody responses. Gaining a better understanding of population immunity is critical to improving predictive models of infection spread and safely reopening economies worldwide. However, to fill knowledge gaps in these areas requires population-scale testing using low-cost, non-invasive, and highly specific and sensitive assays that can be deployed broadly and serially to characterize antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2.

Benchmark detection approaches are based on sandwich immunoassays relying on optical readouts of fluorescence emission or colour change to report antibody levels. These technologies can be costly, often require centralized facilities with trained personnel and are, therefore, not amenable to at-home testing.

More affordable technologies, such as lateral flow assays have been found to be inaccurate or prone to user misinterpretation. Motivated to circumvent such barriers, the Arroyo lab has undertaken a journey to develop an at-home electrochemical assay.

This presentation will report the results of our initial, three-month effort to produce a portable immunoassay:

• Learn about SARS-CoV-2 immunoassays.
• Discover how electrochemists help fight COVID-19.
• Learn the challenges behind developing antibody-based sensors.

Netzahualcóyotl Arroyo Currás (Netz Arroyo) is an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He obtained his PhD degree in analytical chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin, where he worked with Allen J Bard on electrochemical energy storage and studies of electrocatalysis employing scanning electrochemical microscopy. He graduated in 2015 and moved to California to complete his postdoctoral training with Kevin W Plaxco at the University of California Santa Barbara, where he developed electrochemical biosensing platforms supporting real-time measurements of specific molecular targets in the body. His current research focuses on the development of electrochemical biosensors for pharmacological applications.