The latest results from the WCOM 206 Excellence in Communication Award competition are in and we have two winners: Sophia Chen (Fall 2023 term) and Alan Fu (Winter/Summer 2023).
It has been such a pleasure to be part of the team that reads and ranks the undergraduate papers nominated by Communication in Engineering instructors each term. I have learned so much!
Now you can learn about the challenges of monitoring hormone levels for transgender and non-binary individuals, and about models to improve malignant brain tumour survival rates. These two were considered the best of their peer group and the full text of the papers have been added to the McGill Libraries’ repository, eScholarship.
Recommendation for Research and Development of Point of Care Lateral Flow Immunoassay Based Continual Saliva Hormone Monitoring by Sophia Chen
Transgender and non-binary individuals may use Hormone Replacement Therapy as part of their gender transition. During this process, hormone levels are measured using immunoassays, which typically include estrogens, testosterones and progesterones. While commercial solutions can automate blood testing, the blood collection process itself is difficult., invasive, and prone to complications. Because hormone levels change throughout the day, a more robust testing solution needs to be developed. Lateral flow assays, a low cost detection device can be developed for quantitative readouts of hormone levels. However, low concentration of the hormones of interest present in the saliva means that this solution cannot currently be used as a diagnostic device. Future investigation is necessary on detection antibodies that are used for this solution. Intended audience: a biotechnical company considering research and development towards hormone monitoring.
Comparative Review of Malignant Brain Tumor Models by Alan Fu
Stagnant growth in malignant brain tumor survival rates indicates a need for more powerful models to advance tumor research and pharmaceutical testing. This paper comparatively analyzes three models: 3D cell line xenografts, genetically engineered mice models, and neoplastic cerebral organoids based on comprehensiveness, scalability, and accuracy criteria. 3D CLXs possess excellent scalability but are unappealing in all other aspects. GEMMs are favorable in the aspects of comprehensiveness and accuracy compared to 3D CLXs, but face issues regarding scalability. Finally, neoCORs outclass GEMMs in both comprehensiveness and accuracy while retaining modest scalability, leading this paper to conclude that neoCORs are the most viable model for future development. Future development of neoCORs, especially of assistive microfluidics devices, is strongly recommended.