Nicole and colleagues have recently developed a diagnostic platform based on fluorescent sample labelling, optical detection, and machine learning classification of viruses. Results can be obtained within a couple of minutes and we have been able to differentiate SARS-CoV-2 from negative clinical samples, as well as from other common respiratory pathogens such as influenza and seasonal human coronaviruses, with high accuracy.

Nicole Robb is an Assistant Professor at the University of Warwick Medical School, a visiting lecturer at the University of Oxford Physics Department and a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellow. Her current research interests include using biophysical techniques to study viral replication and development of rapid pathogen diagnostics. She is co-founder of a spinout company that is working on rapid viral testing and is PhD Course Director of the University of Warwick’s Institute for Global Pandemic Planning (IGPP).