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Title: Research on Mold Detection and Entrepreneurial Inspiration
Speaker: Hannah Myers

I began research in May, working to help develop an assay that will detect different types of mold accurately and more quickly than what is currently available.

We have collected house dust from places all over the United States, from different households with different concentrations of mold. After collecting it, we incubate the samples at different humidities. Once we have waited about a week, we go back and take a look.

We then extract the RNA that is in the dust, from the mold that has grown, and we analyze it to determine which genes are very prominent and which genes we should be looking for when detecting mold.

I have started a business called Pathot Trace, where I am working on developing an easy‑to‑use test strip for germs in general. From there, we are also developing an app that reads the strip and provides users with information about which allergens are present.

If you had talked to me exactly a year ago and told me that I had started this biotech startup, that I was an entrepreneur doing all this research, I would have had no idea what to do with myself, because that is something I never imagined for my future.

Getting involved, meeting new people, and learning more about spaces that I was uncomfortable with inspired me to start this journey. It inspired me to break free from my comfort zone. I would say that is what motivated me to pursue this research and to build my company and my products.

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