Open Letter to Philanthropists
February 20, 2025
Subject: Inquiry for Funding of Phase 2 i-Diagnostics/TIRF Analytix Non-profit Project
Dear Philanthropist,
I am writing to you because you are known for your philanthropic actions of returning back to society. I am a scientist with unique expertise in the area of CBRNE (chemical, biological +) security, lifesciences, physics, chemistry and biology. I am fortunate with my unique skills, knowledge and accomplishments listed at my website www.TIRF-Labs.com. In 1994 I immigrated from Russia to the U.S. and by 2000 achieved the American dream, started my company TIRF Labs, and created ~150 high-tech jobs. The U.S. Government awarded me $4.3 Million. I assembled a team of super-talented scientists and engineers; invented two clusters of platform technologies TIRF Analytix and i-Diagnostics and supplied my products to hundreds research groups worldwide. I am not taking my success for granted. Similar to you, I am returning back to society. My way of returning goes through my non-profit project i-Diagnostics. Its goal is to prevent future epidemics and minimize the damage from existing diseases. We envision an infrastructure based on two clusters of open-source platform technologies: TIRF Analytix and i-Diagnostics. My colleagues and I foresaw an RNA virus pandemic in 2014-2016, ahead of COVID-19. However, our progress was slow due to our limited resources, while RNA viruses mutated too fast. I believe there will be great benefits for the entire humanity, if our skills and i-Diagnostics developments synergize with your donations. Your returning back to society will synergize with ours and be amplified by our skills and technologies. We envision a global infrastructure based on our TIRF Analytics and i-Diagnostics, which will be capable of preventing future pandemics and minimizing the damage from existing diseases.
I received my training in the former USSR from four Nobel Prize winners: N. N. Semenov, P. L. Kapitza, A. D. Sakharov, V. L. Ginzburg, academicians K. I. Zamaraev, A. E. Shilov, doctors I. Y. Sarkisov, E. M. Trukhan and dozens of other super-talented scientists. They generously trained me in several fields, which placed me into uniquely advantageous position in the area of molecular diagnostics, and super-resolution bioimaging, and enabled me with the unique set of skills and knowledge that I am not taking for granted, as I mentioned. I feel fortunate and am willing to return back to society. My gurus had similar feelings in their blood and transferred similar epigenetics into me together with their knowledge and skills.
I am also inspired by Dr. Albert Bruce Sabin, who made his invention of polio-vaccine available for all. Similar to Dr. Sabin I am willing to make i-Diagnostics and TIRF Analitix available for all. I pledge to return back to society – make my inventions available for all, including all research groups on the globe. Together with i-Diagnostics and TIRF Analitix we supply to our R&D customers the entire range of tools and supplies for application development. i-Diagnostics will be available to all for home-use. It will be simple to use, similar to a pregnancy or sugar-in-blood tests, but will be more powerful and precise that current tests in laboratory settings. I am giving back to society my knowledge, skills, and labor. Your donations will help us to make i-Diagnostics and TIRF Analytix Open Source Platforms available to the broadest base of scientific and medical communities on the globe. In several years i-Diagnostics will be available to everyone.
We inquire about new type of philanthropic donations and U.S. Government grants. They should be driven by pro-social, highly ethical motivations. These donations and investments should not pursue commercial, for-profit purposes. The goal of our non-profit project is to prevent future epidemics and minimize the damage from existing diseases for everyone on the globe. As mentioned, our team is uniquely positioned in this area and our way to give back to society is to create an open source platform for global infrastructure of precision medicine, home-use accurate diagnostics, single molecule biology, and rapid drug screening.
Naturally occurring and man-made pathogens impose one of the greatest threats on humanity. Security experts concur that survival of humanity critically depends on our capability of controlling pandemics. Indeed, recent COVID killed ~7 millions, damaged ~700 millions, and incurred ~$16,000 Billion losses ~$200,000 for a family of 4. In 1918, the Spanish flu killed ~50 millions, more than WW1, WW2, Korean, and Vietnam wars combined. Definitely, prevention of pandemics should be of the highest priority for national security.
Lifescience is the area where technology meets humanity. Lifescience technologies offer tremendous opportunities to improve the quality of life. However, as a powerful tool it involves the risks of misuse. To amplify the former opportunities and to mitigate the risks of the latter, one needs an advanced diagnostics technology. On the other hand, the platform should be capable of providing insights into molecular mechanisms of diseases. TIRF Analytix and i-Diagnostics platforms meets all the requirements. Unlike conventional tests that detect only one class of biomarkers, i-Diagnostics detects all 4 major classes simultaneously: DNA, RNA, proteins, and metabolites, and builds 4D images of the response, providing superior accuracy for personalized medicine. Besides, TIRF Analytix, including TIRF technique combined with microscopy have become a method of choice for single molecule biology studies.
We declined for-profit route for our project and pledge to make i-Diagnostics a genuine Open Source platform available to everyone. We believe that this project represents excellent opportunity for philanthropists, the U.S. Government, our fellow scientists. We are committed and excited to create a global biological safety infrastructure based on intelligence of independent scientists, medical doctors, and other users. All aspects of the envisioned infrastructure require advanced diagnostics. We invented and prototyped such technology. Our research-grade TIRF Analytix instruments are in demand for single molecule biology studies. i-Diagnostics can revolutionize the entire field of healthcare, as well as create new areas of personalized prognostic and preventive medicine. Our team has excelled with Phase 1 of this project, which was funded by the U.S. government totaling $4.3M. We are fully ready to move to Phase 2 and request your donations to make i-Diagnostics an Open Source Platform in order to make it affordable for thousands of research groups worldwide. Please refer to www.tirf-labs.com/i-diagnostics/ and contact us for details.
Briefly, our technology uses the phenomenon of Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF), which provides extremely thin layer of excitation light ~100 nm, thus removing the background interference, maximizing the sensitivity and minimizing false-positive and false-negative responses. We currently manufacture research-grade instruments TIRF Analytix, capable of detecting single molecules. They are competing with Zeiss, Nikon, Leica, and Olympus. However, there is no competition and no analogy to our handheld i-Diagnostics device.
We envision that thousands of research groups worldwide will develop applications in their areas of expertise using the open source TIRF Analytix and i-Diagnostics. Coordinated global network of users will create infrastructure preventing the emergence and spread of infections.
The following list of features places i-Diagnostics into uniquely advantageous position with respect to alternative technologies:
- Ultimate sensitivity down to single molecules – the ability to detect early stages of diseases
- Superior confidence – minimal rate of false-positive and false-negative responses
- Fast results – providing test results within 5 minutes – simplifying the logistics
- Minimal requirement to sample preparation allows for home-use and point-of-care diagnosing
- Mega-diagnostics: single TIRF microchip can analyze over 200 different targets at once and quantitatively
- Simultaneous detection of DNA, RNA, protein, and metabolite biomarkers
- Chemical-biological analyzer: single TIRF microchip enables detection of multiple chemical and biological agents
i-Diagnostics can detect virtually all diseases including COVID-19, other SARS, Ebola, Influenza, MERS, HIV, and Zika viruses, cancers, cardiovascular, and neurological diseases. Besides obvious clinical use, it is applicable for food and water safety, agricultural and forensic areas. Diagnostic panels can be broad, but tailored to a single medical issue, for example, breast or prostate cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and longevity applications. Running molecular marker profile at home would make doctors’ time more productive and insurance more affordable. Besides, i-Diagnostics is indispensable tool for longevity and rejuvenation applications.
With Phase 1 already being completed, TIRF Labs is looking to raise 2 million USD to start Phase 2 and 75 million to create global infrastructure.
We request your help to partially cover the cost of Phase 2 so that i-Diagnostics and TIRF Analytix become Open Source platforms for all diagnostic needs. In Phase 2 we envision sharing our TIRF Analytix and application development tools with the research community, upgrading the handheld i-Diagnostics and starting manufacturing. We will develop several applications in our lab. However, the main goal is to create global infrastructure to help with the development of a broad range of applications down to receiving FDA approvals. We envision to create an NC RTP-based center for i-Diagnostics, which will coordinate global efforts of preventing future pandemics and emerging precision medicine for all. We are delighted to invite you to become a part of this unique global opportunity, which can MAHA – Make America Healthy Again, revolutionize the current state of medicine, improve the quality and reduce the cost of healthcare by billions of dollars.
Let’s MAHA and change the future of healthcare together to be always a step ahead of any disease.
With Highest Regards,
Alexander Asanov, Ph.D.
CEO, TIRF Labs, Inc.
Research Triangle Park, NC
Info@tirf-labs.com
Encl: The project is outlined in the brochure and described at URL: www.tirf-labs.com/i-diagnostics/