Integrated Calendar

Early detection of recurrence and monitoring of Molecular Residual Disease (MRD) post-surgery is critical for clinical decision-making to tailor personalized treatments across solid cancers. C2i Genomics has developed an ultra-sensitive whole-genome ctDNA test, allowing extremely accurate and sensitive monitoring of patients with solid tumors. Here we present results from applying whole-genome sequencing (WGS) and identification of ctDNA across a variety of adult and pediatric solid tumors. We integrate a genome-wide mutation and copy number monitoring approach coupled with advanced signal processing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) for measuring the tumor load from low-input blood samples (~1mL of plasma) with ultra-sensitive detection. The increased sensitivity allowed clinical detection of tumor fraction down to 5*10-5 and recurrence detection sensitivity achieving >65% at the first two months after definitive treatment, enabling earlier clinical intervention for high-risk patients.

Functional materials are the main building blocks of advanced technologies based on energy storage and conversion systems essential for our modern life including batteries, solar cells, and heterogeneous catalysis. Improvements in materials performance and development of new materials rely on our ability to obtain structure-function correlation as well as understand degradation processes when the materials are integrated into a device. To this end, advanced analytical tools that can provide information at the atomic level are essential. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ssNMR) spectroscopy is well suited for this task, especially when equipped with high sensitivity by Magic Angle Spinning - Dynamic Nuclear Polarization (MAS-DNP). However, to date, the majority of materials studied by MAS-DNP were non-reactive and non-conductive materials with DNP from exogenous sources of polarization such as nitroxide radicals. This approach cannot be simply extended to functional materials as the properties that stem from the material’s functionality in the device, including electrical conductivity, chemical reactivity and defects, often pose challenges in the study of the materials by DNP.
In this talk I will frame the challenges associated with the application of MAS-DNP to functional materials and describe approaches to address them. Results will be presented from three ubiquitous material systems spanning a range of applications: carbon allotropes, transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) and metallic microstructures. We systematically investigated the deleterious effect of materials’ conductivity and formulated means to reduce the effect. We explored the feasibility of utilizing inherent unpaired electrons for endogenous DNP and applied it to probe buried phases in all-solid-state lithium-metal battery and the surface chemistry in carbons. I will show that wealth of information achieved by DNP on various functional materials, can place DNP-NMR as a preferable tool for materials scientists. Our findings are expected to apply to many other systems where functional materials are dominant, making DNP a more general technique.

Catalysis is a general process that speeds up the reaction rate without altering the process thermodynamics. It is often essential to study the kinetics of the reaction to infer the mechanism of catalysis, an insight that can help in catalyst design. However, bulk catalysis, and specifically electrocatalysis, cannot capture the inherent heterogeneity of seemingly identical catalysts. This talk aims to provide basic principles behind electrocatalysis and introduce a new way to study electrocatalysts at the single entity level. Together, we will review the latest progress in the field and conclude with future directions that can be applied to the vast majority of catalysts ranging from organic, bio, and inorganic materials.