Our Center provides STI point-of-care technology developers with many opportunities to engage with us. We work with academic entities, research organizations, and companies with promising technologies. We are technology agnostic in that we support a wide spectrum of STI point-of-care technologies. Our goal is to aid in transitioning technologies from the research laboratory to commercial products.

During the past five years, our Center has worked with over 40 companies and directly funded developmental efforts for 10 of these organizations. The metric of our success in supporting these funded organizations is their ability to sustain development funding. Approximately 86% of the companies funded by the Center have gone on to capture at least one and usually multiple developmental awards. Follow-on funding for Center subawardees ranges from $250,000 to $23.5 million

There are 9 types of support we offer technology developers:

1. Consultations with Center scientists
2. Education on STIs through our free Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Point of Care Testing for Sexually Transmitted Infections 
3. Device evaluation by a Clinical Review Committee
4. Evaluation and testing of pilot POC devices in the research laboratory
5. Developmental guidance through the Center's Self-Assessment Systems Engineering (SASE) tool
6. Access to funding from the Center through our annual solicitation
7. Collaboration with the Center for external funding for further development and clinical testing
8. Access to de-identified clinical specimens and/or laboratory grown organisms for testing POC devices
9. Access to our Technology Watch Database (TWD)

Engage with Our Center

The first step in engaging with the Center is to speak with our Principal Investigator, Dr. Yukari Manabe, the lead of our Technology Development Core, Dr. Joany Jackman, and our Technology Program Manager, Ms. Stephany Ma. During the initial discussion, our scientists will want to determine the level of maturity of your technology, its applicability to STIs, and the immediate needs of your organization.

Send a meeting and non-disclosure agreement (NDA) request email to Stephany Ma ([email protected]). Drs. Manabe and Jackman and Ms. Ma meet with interested developers on Tuesdays between noon and 1 pm Eastern time. 

Prior to the first meeting, complete the following:

Solicitation for Technology Developers

The Johns Hopkins University Center for Point of Care Technologies Research for Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) 2022 solicitation is closed. 

Previous Center Funding Recipients

Over the past 10 years, the Center has provided funding to 10 organizations. Read more.