Viroscope: Changing Tomorrow Through Proactive Prevention

IDEATION

Ten years ago, Dr. Vikas Berry asked a question: what would the world look like if we were able to detect airborne pathogens faster? Today, thanks to Dr. Berry’s research, we know. It looks like Viroscope’s “Sentinel”. The Sentinel is a compact, user-friendly, lightweight, and affordable system that performs real-time detection of specific airborne viruses (COVID, Influenza, and RSV) in small spaces. And Viroscope? That is Dr. Berry’s startup company.

UIC connected us to critical business resources; our mentor through the Startup Network was crucial for us to understand the product/market fit.

Dr. Vikas Berry  |  Co-Founder, Viroscope
Sentinel

ITERATION

Dr. Berry and his team, including Roshan Nemade and Sungjoon Kim put the Sentinel through its paces via rigorous laboratory testing and validation processes. Throughout testing, the Sentinel showed enormous potential to revolutionize disease detection and prevention. Now, Viroscope is ready to conduct field experiments and market analysis to validate and fine-tune its performance.

INNOVATION

While Dr. Berry and his team were busy developing their revolutionary technology, UIC Innovation supported their endeavor by connecting them to business development resources. Dr. Berry and his team took full advantage of mentoring and funding opportunities via the UIC Innovation Startup Network and workshops at mHUB through the UIC Innovation membership. Their team of chemical engineers learned about customer needs and segmentation, manufacturing, and product scalability.

Now that Viroscope is deploying and testing in live environments, the team is excited to spread the word about the Sentinel. Contact Dr. Vikas Berry if you’d like to contribute to spreading the word or join in fundraising efforts.

Check out the Spark Innovation Hub for a complete listing of UIC Innovation’s resources available to students, faculty and staff.