Ratcliff Leads Sweat Biomarker Research Project

A multidisciplinary team of researchers, led by MSE assistant professor Erin Ratcliff, is developing new methods to collect and analyze sweat for clues about how the body is functioning.

Using a $519,000 grant from the SEMI Nano-Bio Materials Consortium, Ratcliff, who is head of the UArizona Laboratory for Interface Science of Printable Electronic Materials, is working alongside sweat biomarker pioneer Dr. Esther Sternberg and J. Ray Runyon, research assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Science, to develop new ways of collecting and analyzing "biomarkers" in sweat. Ultimately, this work could allow physicians to use patient sweat samples in the same way they currently use blood samples, for a less invasive and more informative approach to establishing and monitoring patient health.

“What’s unique about this is that we are combining biology and engineering expertise to develop a wearable device that will detect molecules in sweat, so you don’t have to get your blood drawn to know the health status of your immune system, your nervous system, indeed, any system in the body,” said Sternberg. “The goal, eventually, is to create a device that will provide physicians and health care providers the ability to monitor your health status continuously and in real-time without needing to draw blood.”

The team’s first task is to develop new, continuous and hands-free collection devices that deliver high-quality, standardized sweat samples. This will allow health care professionals to gain a more holistic picture of a patient's bodily systems over an extended period, rather than the “snapshot” a blood draw can provide of a particular moment.

“The idea is that your sweat is reflecting your nervous system – all of the neurotransmitters your body uses to signal between the brain and the rest of the body,” Ratcliff said. “Monitoring this biochemical response continually, over a 24-hour cycle, can inform us about the health of the wearer and also act as a diagnostic tool.”