NINR Nurse Scientist’s Co-Invention Honored with ‘Shark Tank’ Award

Dr. Wendy A. Henderson

Nurse scientist Dr. Wendy A. Henderson co-invented a new patent-pending methodology to test stool rapidly at the point-of-need for infectious pathogens. The test recently won the 2018 American Gastroenterological Association Tech Summit’s Shark Tank competition. Henderson is a clinical investigator and lab chief of the digestive disorders unit within the Division of Intramural Research at the National Institute of Nursing Research. 

This first-of-a-kind test is done at the point-of-care and without a laboratory, allowing clinicians to treat patients immediately, since the test results are provided within minutes as opposed to days.  

In addition to providing fast results, the paper-based test has the potential to improve outcomes, especially in resource-limited settings in the developing world where 500,000 children a year die from diarrheal diseases.

Henderson developed the tool with Dr. Chang Hee Kim of GoDx under a clinical cooperative research and development agreement, which allows for partnerships between researchers at NIH and private companies. Aspects of Kim’s work in this area are also being supported by a Small Business Innovation Research grant funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences.