NIH OxCam Scholar Advances Cancer Detection using Nanodiamonds
NIH Oxford-Cambridge Program Scholar Alumna, Dr. Ambika Bumb’s biotech company, Bikanta, has developed nanodiamond-based technology that assists in the early detection of cancer. Through the use of fluorescent nanodiamonds, medical imaging is enhanced, allowing cancer to be detected in deep tissue. Bikanta’s nanodiamonds are superior optical probes that emit a bright and stable signal, that is customizable (to target specific diseases) and nontoxic.
Ambika graduated from Georgia Tech and obtained her doctorate from Oxford while on the prestigious Marshall Scholarship. She completed two post-doctoral fellowships at the National Cancer Institute and National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute where she developed Bikanta’s nanodiamond-based technologies. She has received numerous scholarships and awards for excellence in engineering and was profiled in 2011 in Nature as a successful young scientist on the fast-track. Her work in the areas of nanomedicine and diagnostics has led to multiple patents and many publications.
You can read more about how Ambika founded Bikanta here:
http://www.femalefounderstories.com/ambika-bumb.html
You can read more about Bikanta’s nanodiamond technology here:
http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/07/bikantas-tiny-diamonds-find-cancer-before-it-spreads/