{"682713":{"#nid":"682713","#data":{"type":"news","title":" TopoDx: Pioneering Antibiotic Resistance Testing \u2014 From Lab to Market","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EPeter Yunker boils down his advice for researchers wanting to commercialize their lab advances.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou can\u2019t go it alone,\u201d said Yunker, an associate professor of physics at Georgia Tech.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn January, Yunker co-founded the biotechnology startup TopoDx LLC, with David Weiss, an Emory University School of Medicine researcher and director of the Emory Antibiotic Resistance Center, and Yogi Patel, a Georgia Tech alumnus with a background in business development and bioengineering.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cResearchers often think that they have a good commercialization idea to help people, but that alone does not guarantee success,\u201d said Yunker. \u201cLook for partners with complementary skills who understand aspects of the commercialization process that you don\u2019t. Find mentors with business and scientific backgrounds in the specific industry you want to enter.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ETopoDx has developed a microbial test to identify antibiotic resistance and susceptibility rapidly and accurately. Current tests produce a result in three to five days. TopoDx\u2019s approach can gain a result within four hours. Every hour counts in treating serious infections. Delays in accurate treatment can increase antibiotic resistance, which is a global challenge, causing up to 1 million deaths a year.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe company\u2019s testing method was inspired by a fundamental biophysics project in Yunker\u2019s lab. His team was interested in understanding how bacterial colonies behave. They tested white-light interferometry, a technology that can measure bacterial colonies down to the nanometer level.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/research.gatech.edu\/topodx-pioneering-antibiotic-resistance-testing-lab-market\u0022\u003ERead more in the Georgia Tech Research newsroom.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ETopoDx has developed a test that identifies antibiotic resistance in just four hours, addressing a critical global challenge.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"TopoDx has developed a test that identifies antibiotic resistance in just four hours, addressing a critical global challenge."}],"uid":"34528","created_gmt":"2025-06-06 14:02:09","changed_gmt":"2025-07-23 19:01:31","author":"jhunt7","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-03-28T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-03-28T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"627655":{"id":"627655","type":"image","title":"Peter Yunker, Georgia Tech: Heteroresistance AST","body":null,"created":"1571242989","gmt_created":"2019-10-16 16:23:09","changed":"1571242989","gmt_changed":"2019-10-16 16:23:09","alt":"Peter Yunker, Georgia Tech: Heteroresistance AST","file":{"fid":"238979","name":"Peter Yunker original (1).jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Peter%20Yunker%20original%20%281%29.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Peter%20Yunker%20original%20%281%29.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4750443,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Peter%20Yunker%20original%20%281%29.jpg?itok=mL2HSSsQ"}}},"media_ids":["627655"],"groups":[{"id":"1278","name":"College of Sciences"},{"id":"1275","name":"School of Biological Sciences"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}