Top research prize awarded to infectious disease professor

McKendry is a Professor of Biomedical Nanoscience at University College London and director of the i-sense EPSRC IRC in Early Warning Sensing Systems for Infectious Diseases.

Her research lies at the forefront of quantum technologies, deep learning and telecommunications for infectious diseases and public health.

McKendry led the i-sense team to help tackle a range of infections from HIV to the global response to COVID-19, developing new diagnostics and analysing data for public health surveillance.

She is also working to transform the ability to accurately interpret HIV results with the use of so called ‘nanodiamonds’, which have heightened sensitivity to detect virus proteins in blood and urine, and would advance the results of current PCR tests. 

According to McKendry, the £350,000 prize will be used to utilise her team’s recent breakthroughs with nanodiamond diagnostics to greatly improve the early diagnosis of antimicrobial resistance.

If successful, this early-stage research could lay the foundations of next stage translational funding and open applications to other communicable and non-communicable diseases.

In a statement, McKendry said: “There is an urgent need for new diagnostic tests that can detect early infections and to improve antibiotic stewardship.

“I am also really excited to lead a public engagement initiative to raise the visibility of the hidden heroes of diagnostics – the engineers and scientists behind diagnostic tests that have been so vital to the COVID-19 pandemic response.”

Professor McKendry will present her work at a keynote lecture, hosted by the IET, on 14 March 2024.

The event will be broadcast live and followed by a Q+A session, which can be registered for here.

“The IET’s A F Harvey Engineering Research Prize supports the world’s best scientists and engineers to advance their research,” said IET president, Dr Gopichand Katragadda. “Professor McKendry is leading the way in public health and diagnostics with her pioneering work at the intersection of biology, digital, and materials. I’d like to congratulate her on this award – we are excited to support the next phase of her research.”