Dousabel Tay

Dousabel Tay is a PhD candidate whose work integrates bioengineering and mathematical modeling to advance clinical diagnostics. Specifically, Dousabel is developing new approaches for rapid diagnostic testing, in a unique integration of protein engineering and microfluidics, to improve the tests’ performance, turnaround time, scalability, and affordability. With the support of a MathWorks Fellowship, Dousabel will expand and refine an end-to-end MATLAB model she has created, which predicts the performance of diagnostic tests and sheds light on which parameters and choices are more likely or unlikely to improve performance. Recently, she began designing and testing microfluidic devices that can be used to screen combinatorial libraries of binding proteins. In addition to developing and sharing tools of value to the wider bioengineering community, Dousabel is making important contributions to the growing sphere of research that approaches medical diagnostic tests as engineered systems and uses innovative mathematical models to better understand the tests and apply them to improve human health.