UCSC Research Drives Breakthroughs in Diagnostics and Energy-Efficient Technology
Professors Vanessa Jonsson and David Lederman
Since its founding, UC Santa Cruz has championed research that crosses disciplines. Through Inspiring Change: The Campaign for UC Santa Cruz, the university is doubling down on that mission—mobilizing philanthropy to ensure breakthrough research continues to thrive.
That momentum can be seen in the Innovation Catalyst Proof-of-Concept Program, managed by the Innovation & Business Engagement Hub. Designed to bridge the “valley of death” between foundational research and early-stage investment, the 12-month program provides gap funding, mentorship, and commercialization training to help faculty validate and de-risk promising technologies. By positioning innovations for licensing, partnerships, and startup formation, Innovation Catalyst accelerates real-world impact.
Among this year’s awardees is Assistant Professor of Biomolecular Engineering Vanessa Jonsson, whose project—ImmPrint-SwabSeq—reimagines how viral infections and immunity are detected. Developed with graduate students Divya Venkatraman and Lydia Mok, ImmPrint-SwabSeq can identify multiple respiratory viruses, including COVID-19, RSV, and influenza, from a single nasal swab. The method can process thousands of nasal swabs in under 24 hours, enabling cost-efficient, high-volume, scalable testing. Even more transformative, it also measures a person’s immune response—eliminating the need for a separate blood draw to assess immunity. Built upon the scalable SwabSeq platform pioneered at UCLA, ImmPrint-SwabSeq integrates viral detection with immune profiling and translates complex molecular data into a clear, user-friendly clinical dashboard.
Innovation Catalyst is also supporting Professor of Physics David Lederman and graduate student Becker Sharif as they develop energy-efficient “memristive” devices for radio-frequency switching. Unlike conventional switches, such as field-effect transistors and PIN diodes that require constant bias current and generate excess heat, memristors retain their state without continuous power. This non-volatile property dramatically reduces energy consumption, making them especially valuable for battery-powered communications systems, medical devices, and avionics. By targeting faster, low-power, high-efficiency switching, the team aims to deliver transformative performance gains with strong commercial potential.
With support from Innovation Catalyst and philanthropic partners, UC Santa Cruz research is advancing faster, smarter diagnostics—strengthening the research community in Santa Cruz day by day.
