David Erickson (academic)
David Erickson | |
|---|---|
| Education | University of Alberta (B.Sc.) University of Toronto (M.A.Sc., Ph.D.) California Institute of Technology (postdoctoral fellow) |
| Known for | Research on optofluidic and microfluidic systems; point-of-care diagnostic platforms |
| Awards | Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (2011) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Mechanical engineering; microfluidics; optofluidics; point-of-care diagnostics |
| Institutions | Cornell University |
David Erickson is a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Cornell University, where he serves as the S.C. Thomas Sze Director of the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.[1] His research spans microfluidics and optofluidics, including point-of-care diagnostic technologies for use in low-resource settings.[1] He received a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) through the U.S. Department of Energy.[2][3]
Education
Erickson received a B.Sc. in mechanical engineering from the University of Alberta (1999), and M.A.Sc. (2001) and Ph.D. (2004) degrees in mechanical engineering from the University of Toronto.[1] He completed postdoctoral work in electrical engineering at the California Institute of Technology (2005).[1]
Career
Erickson joined Cornell University in 2005 and later became the S.C. Thomas Sze Director of the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.[1] He previously served as Associate Dean of Engineering for Research and Graduate Programs.[1]
Research
Point-of-care diagnostics and global health
Erickson has led or co-led projects developing diagnostic technologies intended for settings with limited laboratory infrastructure. A profile of the NIH-funded center PORTENT (Point of Care Technologies for Nutrition, Infection and Cancer for Global Health) described the center as a five-year initiative led by Erickson and collaborators to develop, test, and support translation of point-of-care diagnostics with international clinical partners.[4][5]
In infectious disease and cancer diagnostics, a 2019 overview in The Pathologist reported that a team led by Erickson and medical collaborators designed and tested a portable system ("TINY") for Kaposi's sarcoma diagnosis that can operate without reliable electricity in resource-limited settings.[6]
Erickson has also been involved in smartphone-enabled diagnostic platforms. A 2016 report in TechCrunch described Cornell's "FeverPhone" effort to develop a portable, smartphone-linked diagnostic system for febrile diseases, citing Erickson as a lead Cornell engineering professor on the project.[7] An earlier ABC News feature reported on Cornell's "SmartCARD" smartphone accessory for cholesterol measurement and quoted Erickson describing the rationale for smartphone-based diagnostics.[8]
Nutrition and anemia screening
In 2024, Cornell announced that "AnemiaPhone," a point-of-care technology for assessing iron deficiency, was transferred to India's Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for integration into national programs.[9] The Times of India similarly reported on the transfer and described the system as a portable strip-and-reader workflow designed for rapid screening at the point of need.[10] A 2025 ICMR document describing an expression-of-interest for manufacturing a device based on AnemiaPhone technology referenced its development at Cornell and planned transfer for scale-up in India.[11]
Optofluidics and energy-related work
Erickson has published research on optofluidic systems, including applications to energy. A 2011 review article in Nature Photonics (co-authored with David Sinton and Demetri Psaltis) outlined optofluidic approaches for sunlight-based fuel production and solar-energy collection and control.[12]
Entrepreneurship and commercialization
Erickson has been associated with startup efforts based on academic research in diagnostics, instrumentation, and energy.[1]
In biopharmaceutical analytics, Waters Corporation announced in 2025 that it acquired Halo Labs, describing Halo Labs as a developer of imaging technologies for particle analysis in biologic therapeutics.[13] A trade publication summary similarly described the acquisition and Halo Labs' particle-analysis platform.[14]
In carbon utilization, Dimensional Energy reported a $20 million Series A funding round in 2023; the round was also covered by TechCrunch and other business press as supporting sustainable aviation fuel and carbon-to-products development.[15][16]
Awards and honors
- Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) (2022).[17]
- Fellow, Canadian Academy of Engineering (2021).[18]
- Finalist, NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE (Dimensional Energy) (2019).[19][20]
- Fellow, Optica (formerly the Optical Society of America) (2012).[21]
- Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) (2014).[22]
- Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) (awarded through the U.S. Department of Energy) (2011).[3]
- U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science Early Career Research Program award (FY2010).[23]
- National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award (2009).[24]
- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Microsystems Technology Office (MTO) Young Faculty Award (2007).[25]
Selected publications
- McCloskey, Duncan; Semeere, Aggrey; Ayanga, Racheal; Laker-Oketta, Miriam; Lukande, Robert; Semakadde, Matthew; et al. (January 13, 2023). "LAMP-enabled diagnosis of Kaposi's sarcoma for sub-Saharan Africa". Science Advances. 9 (2) eadc8913. Bibcode:2023SciA....9C8913M. doi:10.1126/sciadv.adc8913. PMC 11318663. PMID 36638178.
- Snodgrass, Ryan; Gardner, Andrea; Semeere, Aggrey; Kopparthy, Varun L.; Duru, Jens; Maurer, Toby; Martin, Jeffrey; Cesarman, Ethel; Erickson, David; et al. (September 11, 2018). "A portable device for nucleic acid quantification powered by sunlight, a flame or electricity". Nature Biomedical Engineering. 2 (9): 657–665. doi:10.1038/s41551-018-0286-y. PMC 6425734. PMID 30906647.
- Lu, Zhengda; O'Dell, Dakota; Srinivasan, Balaji; Rey, Elizabeth; Wang, Ruisheng; Vemulapati, Sasank; Mehta, Saurabh; Erickson, David; et al. (December 4, 2017). "Rapid diagnostic testing platform for iron and vitamin A deficiency". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 114 (51): 13513–13518. Bibcode:2017PNAS..11413513L. doi:10.1073/pnas.1711464114. PMC 5754775. PMID 29203653.
- Oncescu, Vlad; Mancuso, Matthew; Erickson, David (2014). "Cholesterol testing on a smartphone". Lab on a Chip. 14 (4): 759–763. Bibcode:2014LChip..14..759O. doi:10.1039/C3LC51194D. PMID 24336861.
- Erickson, David; Sinton, David; Psaltis, Demetri (2011). "Optofluidics for energy applications". Nature Photonics. 5 (10): 583–590. Bibcode:2011NaPho...5..583E. doi:10.1038/nphoton.2011.209.
- Yang, Allen H. J.; Moore, Sean D.; Schmidt, Bradley S.; Klug, Matthew; Lipson, Michal; Erickson, David; et al. (2009). "Optical manipulation of nanoparticles and biomolecules in sub-wavelength slot waveguides". Nature. 457 (7225): 71–75. Bibcode:2009Natur.457...71Y. doi:10.1038/nature07593. PMID 19122638.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "David Erickson". Cornell Engineering. Cornell University. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "President Obama Honors Outstanding Early-Career Scientists". obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. The White House. September 26, 2011. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ a b "DOE's Winners Since 1996". science.osti.gov. U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science. March 20, 2025. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "NIH grant to launch centre for global diagnostics at Cornell University". Pathology in Practice. October 3, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "Cornell researchers receive NIH grant to launch new center for developing point-of-care diagnostic devices". News-Medical. September 21, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "One TINY Step at a Time: How to diagnose Kaposi's sarcoma in areas without reliable infrastructure". The Pathologist. February 28, 2019. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "NIH grants $2.3M to development of FeverPhone, a portable disease diagnosis kit". TechCrunch. June 21, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "Curious About Your Cholesterol? New Smartphone Accessory Can Help". ABC News. December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "New Cornell tech to evaluate anemia to be used across India". Cornell Chronicle. Cornell University. December 2, 2024. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "Cornell transfers accessible, affordable anemia detecting tech to Indian government". The Times of India. January 8, 2025. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "Expression of Interest (EoI) referencing AnemiaPhone technology (PDF)" (PDF). Indian Council of Medical Research. Government of India. January 17, 2025. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ Erickson, David; Sinton, David; Psaltis, Demetri (October 2011). "Optofluidics for energy applications". Nature Photonics. 5 (10): 583–590. Bibcode:2011NaPho...5..583E. doi:10.1038/nphoton.2011.209.
- ^ "Waters Acquires Halo Labs, Expanding Biological Analysis Portfolio". Waters Investor Relations. Waters Corporation. May 21, 2025. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "Waters Corporation Announces Acquisition of Halo Labs". Spectroscopy Online. May 22, 2025. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "Microsoft's climate fund backs sustainable jet fuel company Dimensional Energy". TechCrunch. December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "Decarbonization tech startup with Houston office scores $20M from United, Microsoft, and others". InnovationMap. January 19, 2024. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "David Erickson, Ph.D. (AIMBE College of Fellows, Class of 2022)". American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "U of T Engineering professors and alumni elected to the Canadian Academy of Engineering". University of Toronto Engineering News. June 15, 2021. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "Dimensional Energy joins NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE finals". XPRIZE. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "In Wyoming, a contest to capture carbon and save coal". KUER (Wyoming Public Radio/NPR). March 5, 2019. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "Seventy-two OSA Members Elevated to Rank of Fellow". Optica. December 4, 2012. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "ASME Fellows List (All Fellows – 2014) (PDF)" (PDF). ASME. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "DOE Office of Science Early Career Research Program Awardee Abstracts (Fiscal Year 2010) (PDF)" (PDF). U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "ISR Microsystems Seminar: David Erickson – biography (notes NSF CAREER Award)". University of Maryland Institute for Systems Research. Retrieved December 23, 2025.
- ^ "Seminar flier (UCSC): "Optofluidics for Biomolecular Analysis" – notes DARPA-MTO Young Faculty Award (2007) (PDF)" (PDF). University of California, Santa Cruz. January 26, 2009. Retrieved December 23, 2025.