Nichola C. Garbett, PhD
Assistant Professor, University of Louisville School of Medicine; Assistant Director of the Biophysical Core Facility, James Graham Brown Cancer Center, University of Louisville

Dr. Garbett applies biophysical approaches to the study of biomolecules and their interactions, with particular emphasis on the development of new technologies for medical diagnostics and drug development.  She was part of a James Graham Brown Cancer Center research team which made a key discovery that the melting pattern of blood plasma, called a plasma thermogram, can be used as a diagnostic method for early detection, diagnosis and monitoring of disease.  Dr. Garbett is developing the thermogram technology as a novel, non-invasive diagnostic tool in multiple disease settings, including cervical cancer, melanoma, lung cancer and Lyme disease.  Her work has resulted in over 30 peer-reviewed publications and four pending patent applications.  She is also a co-founder of a start-up company, Louisville Bioscience, Inc., formed to develop and commercialize plasma thermograms as a new diagnostic technology.  Dr. Garbett received her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Kent at Canterbury, England and completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Mississippi and the University of Louisville with leaders in the biophysical characterization of biomolecules.  Her research is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense and the University of Louisville School of Medicine.