The best care

Our approach to outbreak detection is proactive and integrated into routine clinical diagnosis, in contrast to the standard approach, which largely relies on spotting a disease after it has already spread.

 

Sentinel’s first contact with a patient is at their local clinic. If a viral infection is suspected, a small, non-invasive sample (e.g., urine, saliva, blood spot) from the patient will be tested for the most common viruses in the region, using a new class of targeted, point-of-care diagnostics we have developed, based on a technology called SHERLOCK.

 

If any of these SHERLOCK tests are positive, the patient can immediately receive the most appropriate care. If necessary, broader public health measures can also be initiated. If the tests are negative, a clinical diagnostic sample (e.g., blood draw) will be sent to a hospital laboratory, where a highly advanced version of SHERLOCK, called CARMEN, will be used to screen for virtually any virus known to infect humans in a single multiplexed test.

 

Samples that continue to yield negative results will be transferred to a national or regional genome center, where they will be analyzed using unbiased, ultra-deep sequencing, to identify any viruses in the sample, including new and unknown pathogens.