我们很高兴介绍我们最新的分析方法Emerging Investigator，Charles Mace!
查尔斯博士锏2003年在Le Moyne学院获得学士学位，其次是罗切斯特大学教授实验室的硕士（2006年）和博士（2008年）。Benjamin Miller.He was then a postdoctoral scholar in the laboratory of Prof.2008-2011年在哈佛大学工作的乔治·怀特塞德。Prior to joining the faculty at Tufts in 2013,he was a senior scientist at Diagnostics For All.Charlie is the Vice Chair for the upcoming 2020 Gordon Research Conference on Bioanalytical Sensors.
阅读查尔斯的新研究者系列论文”用正规实验设计确定全血参数的样品稳定性" and find out more about him in the interview below:
你最近发表的研究者系列论文集中在全血参数样品稳定性的测定上。How has your research evolved from your first article to this most recent article?
Whether you're asking about my first article as a graduate student or as PI,I have been fortunate to have a consistent scientific narrative in my career—creating technologies that can lead to improved access to healthcare.在罗切斯特大学的研究生院，我开发了一个免费的标签，optical biosensor platform that I was applying to,among other things,characterizing the immune response to flu infections to help create improved vaccines.我的第一篇关于这项技术的文章描述了一种检测致病性大肠杆菌的传感器。大肠杆菌与我在塔夫茨大学的实验室目前所做的工作（纸基微流控装置）相比，it was all very high tech.我的第一篇独立文章描述了一种新的基于纸张的设备结构，可以用来进行免疫分析。It can be thought of as being analogous to a lateral flow test,but something that could be integrated more readily into the kinds of point-of-care hematology devices that we are pursuing.在本文中可以看到其中的一些工作。
What aspect of your work are you most excited about at the moment?
我什么都能说吗？当涉及到我们实验室正在进行的研究时，我就像一个在糖果店里的孩子。We have projects related to point-of-care diagnostics,组织工程，materials 新利手机客户端science,and more.We are very collaborative with groups at Tufts and other universities and institutions,and we like being able to bring our expertise to many different areas of research.能够在这些项目之间来回跳跃（以及对领导这些工作的学生的支持和指导），使我的热情在日常生活中保持在很高的水平。Ultimately,这是我独立职业生涯的一个主要目标，就是开发一些“真实”的东西——一种其他人可以实际使用的化验或设备。我认为我们在多个方面接近这个目标。
在你看来，开发生物参数诊断分析的关键设计考虑因素是什么？
We like to start with the end goal in mind: what does the user need?这一答案部分与典型参数有关，如所需的灵敏度和分析的特异性。but includes a number of other concerns too.Costs are always an obvious issue when the assay is intended for use in limited-resource settings.我们尽量节约开支，事实上，学术界在评估一项测试的价格时，从开发这些测试所需的成本中，确实表现得很糟糕。A consideration that we have been really focusing on lately is how devices will be used.例如，我们试图了解如何提高设备的功能，使其更易于使用，并尽量减少用户进行测试所需执行的步骤。Not only are those concerns practical and driven by conversations with potential users,but they also end up generating interesting research ideas.
What do you find most challenging about your research?
血液看起来很难处理和分析，这和我过去研究过的其他生物流体一样，口服液，或尿。血液是动态的，living sample whose properties change over time.Understanding these challenges and identifying strategies to effectively account for them are the first steps to developing assays or devices to analyze blood.Particularly with our goals to create point-of-care hematology tests,就像我们的纸基红细胞比容测定一样，拥有一个随时间变化的样本可能会影响我们如何解释结果和做出实验决定。Since we need large volumes of blood to develop tests,we mainly rely on local vendors to supply our blood.It's very fresh,but not "fingerstick" fresh.我们需要许多手指来支持我们的工作！Honestly,这就是这本手稿的起源。Lara（本文的第一作者）发现了一个可能影响她的研究目标的问题，设计了一个计划来了解导致她血液样本不稳定的变量，and demonstrated their impact in a clear way.These are challenges worth solving because the impact of this kind of point-of-care device could be felt worldwide.在这个研究阶段，我们必须把很多事情做好。
How do you spend your spare time?
这些天，my main hobbies are chasing around my toddler,teaching him proper animal noises (he's nailed bear and whale,但不能很好地得到绵羊，和他去游泳课。In our quieter moments at night,我和妻子真的很喜欢一起做饭。有时，我们甚至会通过限制原料或强制将某些原料组合在一起来进行竞争。It's a different way of being creative,lets us try new foods,and it helps us share a common passion.Watching reruns of The Office (American version!) for the fifth time is also a common passion.
如果你不是科学家，你会选择哪种职业？
I actually started college with the goal of becoming a high school history teacher.尽管这些计划变化很快，teaching and communicating have always been passions of mine.也就是说，我可能会和我的妻子一起开一个微博，他们制作了很棒的ipas和tater tots。
你能和其他早期职业科学家分享一点与职业相关的建议或智慧吗？
我喜欢这份工作，它最终是非常有回报的，but it can be difficult,势不可挡的，and potentially even lonely at times.That is particularly true when you are just starting out and trying to find your voice.Surround yourself with colleagues and mentors that can provide support and guidance.记住要心甘情愿地为他人提供支持！你不必为了证明你的“独立性”而独自经历。This is just as true for graduate students as it is seasoned PIs.
