Biomedical engineering master’s student Linh Tran won the 2026 Falling Walls Lab Atlantic Canada competition with a diagnostic platform that extracts major health insights from tiny blood volumes. The innovation targets clinical hurdles faced by infants and the elderly during routine blood draws, offering a pathway to reduce multiple needle pokes and repeat clinic visits.
Routine blood tests frequently present logistical hurdles in clinical settings. Drawing sufficient volume from infants or elderly patients often requires multiple needle pokes at different sites or forces patients to return on another day. Linh Tran addressed this challenge during two years of research in Dal’s Frampton Lab.
The research builds on aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS), which are methods used to separate materials within liquids. While ATPS technologies have previously supported cell confinement, biopatterning, and tissue engineering, Tran’s project marks the first time the system has been specifically designed for blood assays and biomarker concentration. According to Tran, small blood samples represent a persistent clinical obstacle that patients and providers have largely accepted out of necessity.
Scaling Up Diagnostic Potential for Global Competition
Tran presented her research under the title “Breaking the Wall of Sample Volume: Big Diagnostics from Tiny Volume” at the 2026 Falling Walls Lab Atlantic Canada competition earlier this month. Securing first place earned her a spot at the global Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin this November, where she will compete against 100 emerging scientists.
“It’s an honour and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from, meet and talk with such dedicated researchers,” Tran stated regarding her upcoming trip to Germany.
Preparation for the international stage involves collaboration with the Frampton Lab team and Research Nova Scotia. Beyond reducing sample volumes for individual tests, further refinement of the technology indicates potential applications in serosurveillance, where a single large batch of samples is screened for specific biomarkers, as well as scaling up to detect multiple biomarkers simultaneously.
Frequently Asked Questions
What problem does Linh Tran’s research solve?
The platform reduces the physical burden of blood tests by extracting diagnostic data from much smaller sample volumes, helping patients avoid multiple needle pokes and return visits.
How does the technology work?
The research uses aqueous two-phase systems (ATPS) to separate and concentrate biomarkers—biological signs linked to disease—within very small liquid samples.
What is the next step for the research?
Following her win at the Falling Walls Lab Atlantic Canada competition, Tran will represent the region at the global Falling Walls Science Summit in Berlin this November.
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