HAIQU is deploying CRISPR-powered biosensors and digital twin risk modeling in hospital emergency departments — the highest-stakes air environments in American healthcare.
Led by Mayo Clinic · ARPA-H BREATHE Program
Emergency departments bring together people in acute distress, immunocompromised patients, elderly individuals, and clinical staff — in spaces with high patient turnover, continuous exposure, and air shared across everyone in the room.
Hospital-acquired respiratory exposures represent a serious risk for patients who are already vulnerable. Yet the air in most EDs is managed for thermal comfort, not health outcomes.
HAIQU is building the infrastructure to change that — giving hospital buildings the ability to see what's in their air and act on it automatically.
Patients undergoing cancer treatment, organ transplant recipients, and others with compromised immune function are at severe risk from airborne exposures in shared clinical spaces.
Including millions more who are undiagnosed. Airborne exposures in healthcare settings can trigger acute exacerbations with serious consequences.
A biosensor based on microfluidic droplet CRISPR technology — enabling rapid, highly sensitive detection of specific airborne organisms without the delays of traditional laboratory analysis.
Advanced modeling techniques — including agent-based simulation and digital twin representations of hospital spaces — translate what's in the air into quantitative, patient-specific risk estimates in real time.
HAIQU is validating its platform through field trials in emergency departments across Mayo Clinic's network — testing in diverse clinical environments across multiple U.S. climate zones.
Video coming soon
Mayo Clinic — Rochester, MN. Mayo Clinic's flagship campus, the largest integrated medical group practice in the world.
Mayo Clinic — Phoenix/Scottsdale, AZ. Testing in a high-heat, low-humidity climate zone.
Mayo Clinic — Jacksonville, FL. Testing in a humid subtropical climate zone with year-round allergen and mold exposure.
Principal Investigator. Mayo Clinic. Leading the development of the CRISPR biosensor platform and the computational risk modeling infrastructure for hospital air quality management.
Official Mayo Clinic announcement of the HAIQU award
Official ARPA-H program overview for the HAIQU team
HAIQU is developing the infrastructure for intelligent hospital air. If your institution is interested in collaborating or deploying this technology, we'd like to hear from you.
hospitals@breathe2026.org