THE LAB WITH LEGS : ( L-R ) Fluxergy co-founders Jonathan Tu , Ryan Revilla ’ 10 , and Tej Patel ’ 10 , MS ’ 12 , stand with their portable laboratory outside their Irvine , Calif ., headquarters .
And not only has their square footage multiplied , so has their team . What started as a group of four has grown to over 60 , with many of their core team members holding degrees from UC San Diego — including Roy Heltsley ’ 10 , Steve Lee ’ 09 , MS ’ 12 , Farzad Izadi Karazi ’ 10 , and Eric Mendonsa ’ 15 .
“ A lot of our initial team is from UC San Diego ; there is a certain DNA that comes from there ,” says Revilla . “ Our alumni team members are big thinkers with a lot of grit .”
Mendonsa agreed , “ It ’ s a really collaborative environment here ; we encourage problem-solving from everyone , leveraging everyone ’ s unique backgrounds .”
Their minds are always moving , just as their name suggests : Fluxergy , a combination of the classical prefix for “ flow ” and suffix for “ work .” Their energies are currently focused on producing pooled sample testing for asymptomatic people . This method involves combining a large amount samples into a single sample , greatly reducing the amount of time it would take to process them separately . If a positive were discovered , the individual samples could be run again to narrow them down .
“ One of the big advantages of this system is it can help open up the workforce ,” says Patel . “ Some combination of point-of-care and pooled sample testing can help to ensure that shifts are all COVID-19 free . If there is a positive , they can isolate that shift of people to ensure the rest of the team stays safe .”
As flu season approaches , the Fluxergy team is also concentrating on developing a serology test to detect the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus , as well as its antibodies , using a nasal swab or fingertip blood sample . In addition , they plan to offer a way to quickly differentiate between multiple viruses — including SARS-CoV-2 , influenza , and respiratory syncytial virus , all of which have similar symptoms .
“ We ’ re not just following what other people are doing . We take our own approach and solve it ourselves ,” says Revilla . Patel adds , “ There ’ s always a new challenge to solve . We take great pride in doing something that is different , unique and very impactful .”
ALL IN THE CARDS : A unique card system allows the device to run a gamut of test analyses , including several for coronavirus .
Tritons Fighting
COVID-19
Other Triton companies are accelerating coronavirus testing : Erik Engelson ’ 82 , MS ’ 84 , and his company Lucira Health are working on the first at-home test , while the 10 + Triton researchers at Quidel Corporation are behind the first approved antigen test , which looks for particular protein fragments .
On the vaccine front , E . J . Brandreth ’ 89 and UC San Diego postdoc Kate Broderick are making strides at local company Inovio , while Stephanie Culler ’ 03 and Persephone Biosciences hope to harness the microbiome to boost immunity .
And that ’ s far from all — Tritons of every stripe have pitched into all kinds of pandemic relief :
Distillers Yuseff Cherney ’ 92 and Justin McCabe ’ 00 , MS ’ 03 , PhD ’ 06 , each shifted operations to make and donate sanitizing solution .
The United Nations called on Jamie D . Alexandre , MS ’ 09 , PhD ’ 14 , and many more Tritons at the nonprofit organization Learning Equality for their tool Kolibri , which can allow students around the world access to educational resources .
The VR company Nanome by Steve McKloskey ’ 15 and Keita Funakawa ’ 16 brings together virus researchers worldwide in a highly collaborative virtual space .
Richard H . Castle III , MBA ’ 13 , used his company Cloudbeds to develop # HospitalityHelps in order to secure rooms for healthcare workers and others displaced by the pandemic .
AI company Arterys , co-founded by Albert Hsaio MS ’ 03 , PhD ’ 05 , MD ’ 07 , developed an algorithm to efficiently diagnose respiratory issues in suspected COVID-19 patients .
Arthur Kreitenberg , MD ’ 82 , who long ago invented a UV sterilization system for commercial airplane cabins , recently partnered with Honeywell to help make the system a reality .
Even opera singer Victoria Robertson ’ 01 began singing socially distanced concerts from her front porch in San Diego . Read about these and more at tritonmag . com / dispatches
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