{"id":22627,"date":"2017-12-05T08:20:26","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T13:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencescosmaincms.cm.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=22627"},"modified":"2018-03-05T13:29:16","modified_gmt":"2018-03-05T18:29:16","slug":"determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Determination Leads to Improved Zika Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Four years ago, Ph.D. candidate Tianyu Zheng arrived in America for the first time. After joining the Ph.D. program in the Department of Chemistry at UCF, he was determined to pursue an upper-level chemistry education. Now, one year out from finishing his doctoral degree at UCF, he\u2019s been awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student award by the American Chemical Society for his research.<\/p>\n

Zheng researches ways to find infectious diseases like Zika by using gold nanoparticles and dynamic light scattering. These nanoparticles are very small, shiny spots that are able to detect diseases in the blood by detecting interested proteins. It is a much faster and cheaper detection system than many other technologies out today.<\/p>\n

\u201cCurrently, most diagnostic tests for Zika virus detection either take too long or require expensive equipment,\u201d Zheng said. \u201cIn contrast, it\u2019s possible for us to know if you have a disease within 30 minutes. Our instruments are the size of a shoebox, and very portable. This highlights the potential of our technology for use in regions where more people can benefit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aside from regional benefits, Zheng\u2019s research can be used to detect not only infectious diseases like Zika but also certain types of cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have done tests for prostate cancer,\u201d he said. \u201cOften, people need to go through many painful and expensive tests to see if they\u2019re affected. But our test is affordable and transportable, so everyone can benefit from it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He works alongside his supervisor and UCF faculty member Qun Treen Huo, Ph.D., who developed the technological product called D2Dx that makes this detection and his research possible. Huo\u2019s company, Nano Discovery, hopes to manufacture the Zika detection test and deliver it to the market<\/a> once it receives FDA approval.<\/p>\n

Once approved, the test will be administered first in the nation and then the rest of the world. Zheng feels a responsibility toward his research.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to do a good job, because I realized this is something I have to do,\u201d he said. \u201cI hope to find a good job in the industry after graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Outstanding Graduate Student award is recognition of the strength, hard work and determination Zheng has, as well has his dedication to his research.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt encouraged me within this career,\u201d he said. \u201cEven if I may not continue in academia, it is still a huge inspiration for what I want to do in the future. I will keep going and finish.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Four years ago, Ph.D. candidate Tianyu Zheng arrived in America for the first time. After joining the Ph.D. program in the Department of Chemistry at UCF, he was determined to pursue an upper-level chemistry education. Now, one year out from finishing his doctoral degree at UCF, he\u2019s been awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student award by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":52,"featured_media":22628,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[3,35,38,40,13,5377,28,29],"tags":[5265,5231,5232,5230,5249,3536,4702,4154],"class_list":["post-22627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards","category-chemistry-departments","category-breaking-news","category-graduate-student-news","category-news","category-research","category-top-news","category-ucf-news","tag-chemistry-ph-d","tag-d2dx","tag-nano-discovery","tag-qun-treen-huo","tag-tianyu-zheng","tag-ucf-department-of-chemistry","tag-zika","tag-zika-virus"],"yoast_head":"\nDetermination Leads to Improved Zika Test - College of Sciences News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Determination Leads to Improved Zika Test - College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Four years ago, Ph.D. candidate Tianyu Zheng arrived in America for the first time. After joining the Ph.D. program in the Department of Chemistry at UCF, he was determined to pursue an upper-level chemistry education. Now, one year out from finishing his doctoral degree at UCF, he\u2019s been awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student award by […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-12-05T13:20:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-03-05T18:29:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/tianyu-sun.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allison Hurtado\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allison Hurtado\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Allison Hurtado\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bb1934f9edc028f4b7d6f410d4ed16b\"},\"headline\":\"Determination Leads to Improved Zika Test\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-05T13:20:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-05T18:29:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":417,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/tianyu-sun.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Chemistry Ph.D.\",\"D2Dx\",\"Nano Discovery\",\"Qun Treen Huo\",\"Tianyu Zheng\",\"UCF Department of Chemistry\",\"Zika\",\"Zika virus\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Awards\",\"Chemistry\",\"COS News\",\"Graduate Student News\",\"News\",\"Research\",\"Top News\",\"UCF News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\\\/\",\"name\":\"Determination Leads to Improved Zika Test - College of Sciences News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/tianyu-sun.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2017-12-05T13:20:26+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-03-05T18:29:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bb1934f9edc028f4b7d6f410d4ed16b\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/tianyu-sun.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2017\\\/12\\\/tianyu-sun.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1280,\"caption\":\"A young man in glasses and a striped polo shirt smiling next to a \\\"chemistry\\\" department sign on a sunny day.\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"College of Sciences News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8bb1934f9edc028f4b7d6f410d4ed16b\",\"name\":\"Allison Hurtado\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/941d9de90fb02a8a413287bc0397f3d905623389ca322af7b963e223122b6242?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/941d9de90fb02a8a413287bc0397f3d905623389ca322af7b963e223122b6242?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/941d9de90fb02a8a413287bc0397f3d905623389ca322af7b963e223122b6242?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Allison Hurtado\"},\"url\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Determination Leads to Improved Zika Test - College of Sciences News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Determination Leads to Improved Zika Test - College of Sciences News","og_description":"Four years ago, Ph.D. candidate Tianyu Zheng arrived in America for the first time. After joining the Ph.D. program in the Department of Chemistry at UCF, he was determined to pursue an upper-level chemistry education. Now, one year out from finishing his doctoral degree at UCF, he\u2019s been awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student award by […]","og_url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\/","og_site_name":"College of Sciences News","article_published_time":"2017-12-05T13:20:26+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-03-05T18:29:16+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1280,"url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/tianyu-sun.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Allison Hurtado","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Allison Hurtado","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\/"},"author":{"name":"Allison Hurtado","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8bb1934f9edc028f4b7d6f410d4ed16b"},"headline":"Determination Leads to Improved Zika Test","datePublished":"2017-12-05T13:20:26+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-05T18:29:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\/"},"wordCount":417,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/tianyu-sun.jpg","keywords":["Chemistry Ph.D.","D2Dx","Nano Discovery","Qun Treen Huo","Tianyu Zheng","UCF Department of Chemistry","Zika","Zika virus"],"articleSection":["Awards","Chemistry","COS News","Graduate Student News","News","Research","Top News","UCF News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\/","url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\/","name":"Determination Leads to Improved Zika Test - College of Sciences News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/tianyu-sun.jpg","datePublished":"2017-12-05T13:20:26+00:00","dateModified":"2018-03-05T18:29:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8bb1934f9edc028f4b7d6f410d4ed16b"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/determination-leads-to-improved-zika-test\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/tianyu-sun.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2017\/12\/tianyu-sun.jpg","width":1920,"height":1280,"caption":"A young man in glasses and a striped polo shirt smiling next to a \"chemistry\" department sign on a sunny day."},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/","name":"College of Sciences News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8bb1934f9edc028f4b7d6f410d4ed16b","name":"Allison Hurtado","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/941d9de90fb02a8a413287bc0397f3d905623389ca322af7b963e223122b6242?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/941d9de90fb02a8a413287bc0397f3d905623389ca322af7b963e223122b6242?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/941d9de90fb02a8a413287bc0397f3d905623389ca322af7b963e223122b6242?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Allison Hurtado"},"url":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/52"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}