International award lecture

9.15am – 9.45am BST, 9 June 2026 ‐ 30 mins

Plenary

Chair, Ian Godber

From bench to pocket: Nanobodies in point-of-care biosensor design

Point-of-care testing (POCT) is moving beyond the clinic—into pharmacies, ambulances, homes, workplaces, and even wearables—yet many biosensors still inherit the limitations of legacy affinity reagents. Conventional antibodies have enabled decades of diagnostics, but their size, stability constraints, and manufacturing variability can cap what portable sensing platforms can realistically achieve. To unlock truly ubiquitous, high-performance POCT, we need binders that are not just “good enough” in the lab, but engineered for the real world.

Nanobodies—compact, single-domain binders derived from camelid antibodies—offer a route to rethinking POCT from first principles. Their small footprint, rugged stability, and recombinant manufacturability make them ideal building blocks for biosensors designed to operate where conditions are unpredictable: temperature swings, limited infrastructure, complex matrices, and tight time-to-result requirements. In this talk, we explore how nanobodies can function as an enabling layer for the next generation of biosensing: faster binding kinetics for rapid assays, higher effective surface packing for improved sensitivity, and modular engineering to integrate seamlessly with electrochemical, optical, microfluidic, and wearable platforms.

Panels of nanobodies can support multiplexed detection and pattern-based classification, positioning POCT biosensors as decision tools rather than single-analyte readouts—especially when paired with lightweight analytics at the edge.

We will outline a forward-looking roadmap spanning discovery to deployment: from rapid selection and recombinant scale-up to device integration and design-for-manufacture. Translational themes will include robustness without cold chain, interoperability across sensor modalities, and the evolving regulatory expectations for novel affinity reagents in decentralised diagnostics.

Ultimately, nanobodies are more than smaller antibodies—they are a platform for programmable recognition. By merging affinity engineering with biosensor innovation, nanobody-enabled POCT can help shift diagnostics toward continuous, distributed, and equitable testing—bringing reliable biochemical insight closer to where decisions are made.

Learning outcomes:

• Describe what nanobodies are and why they’re useful for POCT and biosensors.
• Compare nanobodies with standard antibodies in assay performance (speed, stability, and reliability).
• Outline the main steps to design a nanobody-based biosensor (target choice, pairing, and how to attach to surfaces).
• Identify which POCT/biosensor formats benefit most from nanobodies (electrochemical, optical, microfluidic, wearable).
• Summarize what is needed to move from a lab assay to a deployable POCT test (manufacturing, validation, and regulation).

Speakers

Tahir Pillay

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Ian Godber

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Tahir Pillay

Tahir Pillay holds several appointments as:

• Chief specialist, professor and head of the Department of Chemical Pathology, University of Pretoria and National Health Laboratory service
• Honorary professor of Chemical Pathology, University of Cape Town
• Clinical director of International Activities, Royal College of Pathologists, London and Deputy Editor, Annals of Clinical Biochemistry.

His past appointments includes:

• Editor-in-Chief , Journal of Clinical Pathology
• Past chair of Communications and Publication Division(CPD) of the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory medicine (IFCC)

He received MBChB cum laude (University of Natal), PhD in biochemistry from the University of Cambridge and a postgraduate specialist training at Hammersmith Hospital, Imperial College, London and postdoctoral training at the University of California San Diego.

Tahir is also a fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath).

His prior awards include the Juvenile Diabetes International Fellowship, the American Foundation of Clinical Research outstanding postdoctoral award, the Wellcome Trust Senior Clinical Fellowship, Professors Prize from the Association for Clinical Biochemistry, UK and the Senior Researcher award from the South African Association for Clinical Biochemistry.

Tahir research spans molecular cell biology of insulin signalling, the cell biology of insulin resistance, molecular modelling of ligand-receptor complexes and development of new diagnostic probes for point-of-care testing using recombinant DNA technology.

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Ian Godber

Ian trained in Clinical Biochemistry in Dundee and Nottingham, then moved to NHS Lanarkshire initially as a Principal biochemist, and was later appointed to a post as Consultant clinical scientist and Clinical lead, where he developed an interest in laboratory processes and IT.

He was the Clinical lead for the Scottish Clinical Biochemistry Managed Diagnostic Network from 2016-2020. He moved into his current role as Consultant clinicalsScientist and Lead clinician in Biochemistry at the QEUH in Glasgow in 2020.

Ian has been a senior examiner in Clinical Biochemistry for the Royal College of Pathologists for a number of years. In 2025 Ian took up the role of President of the Association for Laboratory Medicine and will be the Congress president for EuroMedLab when it is held in London in 2027.