Dr. Charles P. Maphanga

My masters research topic primarily focused on the use of laser technology as an alternative technique for administering drugs (medicines) into the human body in a targeted manner other than using the conventional enteral and parenteral routes of drug administration. I used a pulsed femtosecond laser with high peak power and ultra-short pulses to create a sub-microscopic pore on the cell membrane of HIV-l infected cells (in-vitro) in the presence of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, and further performed cell viability, cytotoxicity, and HIV-1 infection levels post laser-enhanced drug delivery using molecular biology assays. Currently I am still in the early stages of my PhD degree. In this new exciting adventure I am using microfluidics approach integrated to a laser device in order to design and fabricate a laser-based Point-of-Care (POC) device for real-time HIV qualitative and quantitative testing. This device will be very beneficial especially in resource-limited settings and developing countries.