The Humans of the Wyss (HOW) series features members of the Wyss community discussing their work, the influences that shape them as professionals, and their collaborations at the Wyss Institute and beyond.
Simon D’Oelsnitz always keeps the potential applications of his science at the top of mind. When he studied pharmacology, he thought about the customers he worked with as a pharmacy technician at CVS. After graduate school, he did the regional NSF I-Corps program, where he interviewed different industry professionals about adopting new technologies. And now, as a Wyss Postdoc, he is motivated by conversations with professionals at environmental protection agencies, who understand the potential value of PFASense, a PFAS diagnostic he’s developing. Learn more about Simon and his work in this month’s Humans of the Wyss.
What are you working on?
My research focuses on developing genetically encoded biosensors. These are tools that can be encoded within the DNA of a living organism, like bacteria, and enable us to program the organisms to respond to a chemical signal. For example, we can specify that upon exposure to certain chemicals, like lead or a pesticide, we want the organism to fluoresce bright green so we can have a visual readout. We’re simplifying chemical measurements using biology. Though we engineer the sensors in an organism, they can also be used ex vivo, so that only the protein sensor is embedded into a device. This core technology has a diverse range of useful applications, both in human health and sustainability.
What real-world problem does this solve?
I’m applying this platform technology as part of a Validation Project called PFASense. PFAS are per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, otherwise known as forever chemicals. They are extremely toxic and persistent environmental pollutants that are found everywhere, from food packaging to cookware. They’re linked to various types of cancer, diseases, and developmental disorders. One of the biggest challenges with PFAS is that they’re virtually invisible. Currently, if you had a water sample and wanted to know if it was contaminated with PFAS, you’d need to ship the sample to a lab, spend hundreds of dollars, and wait a few weeks for the results. This timeline is too slow when you want to know if drinking water is contaminated and whether remediation actions are needed.
The PFASense project aims to use our genetically encoded biosensors to power a portable PFAS diagnostic that can measure PFAS within minutes, rather than weeks, at a fraction of the cost. To do this, we’re engineering biosensors to specifically and sensitively recognize EPA-flagged PFAS molecules and then embedding the sensors within an electrochemical device to produce a rapid digital readout.
What inspired you to get into this field?
My father is a mechanical engineer, and I like to see myself as an engineer at heart because I enjoy building things. I’ve also always loved the intersection of chemistry and biology. In high school, I thought I wanted to be a pharmacist; I actually worked as a pharmacy technician at CVS for a few years. Then, I discovered research and was thrilled to explore the more unknown parts of science.
I decided to combine my passions by focusing on bioengineering, and I was specifically interested in synthetic biology and protein engineering. To get a better foundation, I pursued graduate school at the University of Texas, Austin.
Climate change is one of the biggest and most rapidly growing challenges we face, and it’s imperative to address it quickly.
Climate change is one of the biggest and most rapidly growing challenges we face, and it’s imperative to address it quickly. As we build new technologies with greater capabilities, that should be one of the applications at the forefront of our minds. So, I was excited to apply my work in this context.
What continues to motivate you?
I’m largely motivated by the real-world impact that my research can have. There are already pathways carved out for commercializing chemical diagnostics, similar to the ones I’m working on with PFASense. That’s exciting because it gives me a clear vision of how this technology can make it out of the lab.
Conversations with people in environmental protection agencies, like the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (Mass DEP), reinforce the gravity of the PFAS problem and the desperate need to find a solution for diagnosis and decontamination. They are on the frontlines and could become collaborators in the future.
What excites you most about your work?
I feel really grateful to have the opportunity to work with people who are not only extremely ambitious and intelligent but also very friendly, humble, and down-to-earth.
I get the most joy and energy from working with people with diverse backgrounds and expertise. The collaboration excites me! On the PFASense project, we have a research associate named Pranay Talla, whom I’m advising on engineering our sensors. Nandhinee Radha Shanmugam from Don Ingber’s lab is developing an electrochemical device using the eRapid platform to convert the signal from our sensors into the digital readout. Emily Stoler and Alex Li are on the business development side, connecting with companies and agencies that might use this device. And then, of course, Pam Silver has been a really supportive mentor the whole way through, making connections and shaping our pitch. Beyond all of their technical contributions, they are all nice people to work with, which matters a lot.
What are some of the challenges that you face?
For a PFAS diagnostic to be useful and practical, it must be extremely sensitive and specific. The allowable levels of PFAS in drinking water, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, are in the picomolar range, which is extremely small and lower than the acceptable levels of most other potential contaminants. At the same time, to avoid false positives, the sensors cannot cross-react with any other molecules that could be in water samples, even if those others are present at much higher concentrations than PFAS.
Why did you want to work at the Wyss?
I wanted to join Pam Silver’s lab because of the opportunity to work independently, with a lot of flexibility and latitude to explore, create, and discover. The Wyss has a unique model of doing science, in that leaving the lab is baked into its core function. We have a diverse team of people in business development and patent law. So many of us want to create a product that can be commercialized with the end goal of real-world impact. This all adds up to a support system for translating research projects in a practical sense.
How has that unique support system impacted your work?
It’s made me think on multiple levels about what goes into developing a research project that goes beyond the bench and has put the people necessary to get there within reach. For example, experts in electrochemical devices, business development, and startup veterans all work in the same building, so bringing them into the PFASense team was seamless.
How do you collaborate with and receive support from teams across the Wyss Institute?
Collaborating with the eRapid team has been extremely helpful and has changed the way I think about technology development. Now, we’re not just making this work in an E. coli cell in the lab, but we’re actually optimizing it to work in a portable device that people could use out in the field.
We’ve also received a lot of technical support from the Wyss Operations Team members, like Mike Carr. They have set up a solid infrastructure for handling PFAS in a fume hood, with the proper equipment and logs. This is vital when working with dangerous chemicals.
How have your previous work and personal experiences shaped your approach to your work today?
Working as a pharmacy technician made me think about the consumer and how science impacts them.
After graduate school, I did the regional NSF I-Corps program twice. This program is designed to support people at the early stages of thinking about creating a startup or commercializing technology. Each time, I interviewed 30 people across different industries about the pain points in their workflows and what would encourage them to use new technologies. That opened my eyes to what it really takes to translate something from the bench and get it into people’s hands, beyond just technical work. I realized that, compared to the current methods, innovations need to be exponentially better and more streamlined for people to adopt them.
What do you like to do outside of work?
1/5 Simon recently painted a structure of his favorite protein, the transcription factor RamR from Salmonella enterica. Credit: Simon D’Oelsnitz 
2/5 Simon enjoys drawing and painting. Here, he painted a monstera plant. Credit: Simon D’Oelsnitz 
3/5 Simon enjoys creating art related to science. Credit: Simon D’Oelsnitz 
4/5 A drawing Simon did of a snake plant. Credit: Simon D’Oelsnitz 
5/5 Simon enjoys drawing in his free time. Credit: Simon D’Oelsnitz
I really like making artwork by drawing and painting. My aunt is a painter and two of my great-grandfathers were art critics/dealers in France, so an appreciation for art runs in the family. I enjoy making artwork related to my science, and recently painted a structure of my favorite protein, the transcription factor RamR from Salmonella enterica. I also love fermentation projects, so I make my own yogurt and kombucha.
What is something fun or unique about you that someone wouldn’t know from your resume?
I really love building websites. In college, I had to memorize drug names and properties for my pharmacology class. Instead of using flashcards, I built this scrappy web application that generated multiple-choice questions related to the brand and generic names of drugs. Recently, I have been using this to do work-related projects, like creating a biosensor database called groovDB, and a tool to predict biosensor interactions with ligands or DNA.
What does it feel like to be working on cutting-edge technology that has the potential to have a real and significant impact on people’s lives and society?
I feel really grateful to have the opportunity to work with people who are not only extremely ambitious and intelligent but also very friendly, humble, and down-to-earth. I feel gratitude for the culture and the opportunity to enjoy my work, feel fulfilled by it, and know it has a solid chance of making a real-world impact.