6 in 10 Americans suffer from at least one chronic disease. Emerging molecular screening can detect conditions like gingivitis, diabetes, and cardiovascular and neurodegenerative disorders, but it is inaccessible and slow. Drūl is building a hardware device to monitor oral microbiome dysbiosis to detect disease in the clinic using saliva.
FELLOWS
Nelson Ndahiro
Nelson Ndahiro is the co-founder and CTO of Drūl. Originally from Rwanda, he earned his Ph.D. in chemical and biomolecular engineering at Johns Hopkins University, where he developed computational biology technology and IP that has been deployed and tested in biopharma companies like Regeneron and Sartorius. During graduate school, alongside research, he concurrently pursued his passion for scientific entrepreneurship by co-founding Drūl with Brent Ifemembi to make preventative screening technology more accessible to patients.
Brent Ifemembi is the co-founder and CEO of Drūl, a saliva diagnostic company building tools to diagnose chronic diseases. Ifemembi received his B.S. in chemical and biomedical engineering and M.S. in biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon and a Ph.D. in chemical and biomolecular engineering from Johns Hopkins University. Ifemembi has a passion for improving clinical outcomes, and his doctoral research focused on applying microfluidic technology to cancer prognostics, aiming to improve disease prediction and management.
Brent Ifemembi
TECHNOLOGY
Critical Need
Oral dysbiosis, an imbalanced oral microbiome, has been linked to various chronic illnesses. Emerging molecular screening technology offers early detection and management of conditions like gum disease, diabetes, heart disease, and neurodegenerative disorders. However, accessibility is sorely lacking, and traditional tests are slow, leading to delayed or abandoned follow-up care. Streamlining this process could transform healthcare delivery, improve outcomes, and reduce the burden on patients and the healthcare system. A rapid clinical screening platform is urgently needed to enable early diagnosis and prompt treatment initiation.
Technology Vision
Drūl is building a hardware device to monitor oral microbiome dysbiosis through saliva analysis. Initially targeting oral diseases, which impact 200 million Americans, Drūl’s data-driven approach detects gum disease and tooth decay risk using saliva alone. Although it is the gateway to the rest of the body, the oral cavity often goes overlooked in medicine. Drūl aims to leverage the oral-systemic link to uncover biomarkers for early detection of chronic diseases like oral cancers, diabetes, and neurological disorders.
Potential for Impact
The link between oral health and overall health has been known anecdotally by dentists and physicians for many years, but technology has yet to be translated to a clinical setting. Progress in metagenomics and data analytics now offers a pivotal opportunity to harness the saliva microbiome for systemic health insights. Yet, realizing this potential demands concerted efforts to integrate the technology into existing dental and clinical practices seamlessly. Drūl's in-clinic multi-biomarker device aims to improve chronic disease screening, enhancing accessibility. By drastically increasing screening access, Drūl could prevent the long-term morbidity and mortality of these diseases for millions of Americans, representing a significant stride toward true preventive healthcare.
Website
Drul
Twitter
@Just_Drul