Principal investigator: Margo Wolfe
Co-PI: Longyan Chen
University: Gannon University
Industry partners: ITSI – Biosciences, LLC
This proposal outlines a strategic initiative to revolutionize the production of high-density biosample storage systems through a transition from injection-molded plastics to sustainable, sheet-fabricated layered substrates. Traditional cryogenic storage faces significant logistical and economic hurdles; while Ambient Temperature Biosample Storage (ATBS) offers a transformative alternative, current manufacturing workflows for platforms like the GenPlate-neu are constrained by high labor costs, manual assembly, and limited scalability. In partnership with ITSI Biosciences LLC and supported by the Pennsylvania Manufacturing Innovation Program, this project aims to redesign the structural platform using renewable materials such as nanocellulose and chitosan. By implementing a semi-automated assembly architecture and additive-manufacturing-enabled tooling, we anticipate a 30-60% reduction in per-unit production costs and a 2-3x increase in throughput. This effort not only addresses critical commercialization bottlenecks but also strengthens the regional advanced manufacturing ecosystem by delivering an energy-efficient, automation-ready solution for high-fidelity clinical diagnostics and genomics.