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Welcome to the science writing portfolio of Karen O'Hanlon Cohrt PhD

Capitainer •

What Makes a Good Self-Sampling Device? - Capitainer

At-home and remote sampling can make healthcare testing more accessible by allowing people to collect samples without attending a healthcare facility. For blood testing, finger-prick sampling can also avoid the need for a conventional venous blood draw and the trained personnel required to perform it. These advantages have helped to expand the possibilities for self-sampling in applications ranging from disease screening and monitoring to therapeutic drug monitoring and large-scale public health studies. However, successful self-sampling depends not only on convenience, but also on the quality and reliability of the sample collected. In this piece for Capitainer, I look at the factors that should be considered when choosing or developing a device for self-sampling.
Photo by cottonbro studio on Pexels
Capitainer •

Closing the Testing Gap: Expanding Access to HIV and Hepatitis C Diagnosis - Capitainer

HIV and hepatitis can both be treated and suppressed very effectively although only hepatitis C can be functionally cured today. Yet millions of people worldwide remain unaware that they are infected. Without diagnosis, treatment cannot begin, and people with the infection can transmit it to others. Expanding access to testing is therefore central to global efforts to end HIV and viral hepatitis as public health threats by 2030.
Photo by CDC on Pexels
Tempo Bioscience •

Detecting Protein Biomarkers with Immuno-qPCR

Immuno-qPCR offers an alternative way to study low-abundance biomarkers by combining antibody-based protein detection with the signal-amplification capacity of quantitative PCR (qPCR). Yet despite its advantages, Immuno-qPCR remains less widely used than standard ELISA or commercial multiplex proteomics platforms. Here, we look at why this may be the case and where Immuno-qPCR may still offer particular value.
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels
Capitainer •

Rethinking HbA1c Monitoring for More Patient-Centered Care - Capitainer

Regular HbA1c monitoring, which reflects average blood glucose levels over time, plays such an important role in diabetes care. But for many patients, getting tested as often as recommended is not always straightforward.

At-home blood sampling has the potential to reduce some of these barriers and support more patient-centred monitoring, especially when sample quality and standardisation are built into the process.

I explore this in my latest article for Capitainer, looking at HbA1c monitoring, decentralised sampling, and the role of standardised volumetric microsampling.
Photo by Wolfgang Weiser on Pexels
Capitainer •

Why Sample Stability Matters for Decentralized Blood Testing - Capitainer

Dried blood sampling can make decentralized testing easier by helping samples remain stable during storage and transport. This article explains why liquid blood is more demanding, how drying changes sample handling, and which analytes have shown stability in dried formats. It also highlights the role of dried microsampling in remote diagnostics, newborn screening, and therapeutic drug monitoring. For suitable applications, stable dried samples can support simpler logistics, postal return, and more scalable patient-centered testing.
International Journal of Molecular Sciences •

Clinical Trial Landscape of Gene-Edited Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cells for Hemoglobinopathies and Immunodeficiencies

Allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) has been used for decades to treat certain malignant and non-malignant hematological conditions, but challenges remain. Increased understanding of disease mechanisms and recent developments in genome editing have enabled alternative strategies utilizing gene-edited autologous HCT and many of these have progressed to the clinic. We present here a comprehensive review of clinical trials of gene-edited autologous hematopoietic stem cells for the treatment of hemoglobinopathies and immunodeficiencies.
Tempo Bioscience •

ECM-based or ECM-free for 3D Cell Culture? - Tempo Bioscience

In this article, we compare ECM-based and ECM-free culture approaches across common 2D and 3D workflows, including surface coatings, embedded cultures, dome-based workflows, and Transwell applications, alongside ECM-free ultra-low-attachment (ULA) systems such as Lipidure-coated plates. By highlighting the strengths and limitations of each approach, we aim to help researchers select the format best suited to their experimental goals.
Tempo Bioscience •

Why and How Do We Study Keratinocytes by Tempo Bioscience

In a previous article we introduced keratinocytes and looked at their biological functions and subtypes. Here, we explore some of the main reasons researchers study keratinocytes and the various approaches used. We focus on 2D assay formats, outlining their advantages and limitations, and provide a preview of how these compare with emerging 3D skin models. But first, let’s start with a brief recap on keratinocytes.
Photo by meo on Pexels
Capitainer •

Alzheimer's Blood Test: Why Don't We Screen for Early Detection? - Capitainer

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of dementia, accounting for approximately 60-80% of all cases. Like other forms of dementia, AD is an incurable neurodegenerative condition that comes with progressive memory and language loss, confusion, mood changes, and severe cognitive decline over time. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, studies have found that 50% or more of patients with AD are not diagnosed until the moderate or advanced stage of disease, at which point they cannot benefit from new disease-modifying therapies. This highlights the urgent need for scalable early detection strategies including blood-based biomarkers to allow timely intervention and maximize the impact of emerging therapies.
Capitainer •

Dried Urine Sampling For Patient-Centric Kidney Health Management - Capitainer

In a previous article, we explored the possibilities for dried urine testing as an alternative to standard liquid urine testing, with a particular focus on patient convenience, sample stability, and accuracy. Here, we take a closer look at kidney function testing, specifically examining the key biomarkers that can be measured, the patient populations that benefit most, and how dried urine sampling could transform routine primary care screening through at-home sampling for patient-centric kidney health and chronic disease management.
CRISPR Medicine News •

News: Clinical Update: YolTech's Base-Editing Therapy YOLT-101 Gains Chinese IND Approval - CRISPR Medicine

YolTech Therapeutics announced on Monday that the Chinese National Medical Products Administration has approved its IND application for YOLT-101 in heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia. YOLT-101 is a novel base-editing therapeutic candidate designed to permanently disrupt the PCSK9 gene in the liver to reduce disease-driving low-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
Tempo Bioscience •

2D vs 3D Cell Culture: Choosing the Right Model - by Tempo Bioscience

In our last article, we compared 2D organ-on-a-chip devices and 3D organoids with respect to their use in drug discovery, highlighting their importance in modeling diseases and evaluating efficacy and safety during drug discovery and development . We also presented the major catch-22 challenge in disease modeling; disease biology is complex and developing a ‘good’ disease model requires a deep understanding of disease mechanisms and pathogenesis, both of which come through gathering Real-World E...
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