Paul Slusarewicz, PhD, adjunct professor at the University of Kentucky (UK) Gluck Equine Research Center and co-founder and chief scientific officer at MEP Equine Solutions LLC, is developing a method to rapidly detect and count the number of parasite eggs in feces. Slusarewicz, who began this work as a visiting scholar at UK, has been collaborating with and working in the lab of Martin Nielsen, DVM, PhD, Dipl. EVPC, ACVM, assistant professor in the Department of Veterinary Science at the Gluck Center.

Slusarewicz’s previous CEO at a different company, local businessman Eric Hauck, introduced him to Nielsen, and the three co-founded MEP Equine Solutions LLC to research, develop, and commercialize the technology behind the Parasight System, which uses a smartphone to perform fecal egg diagnostics.

Jessica Scare, PhD candidate in Nielsen’s lab, assisted with early validation work. Stefanie Pagano, master’s student of biomedical engineering at UK, and Chris Mills, a senior in biosystems engineering at UK, also helped in the lab. As part of a UK-wide effort, the egg-binding protein that is central to the technology behind the Parasight System was produced by professors Mike Mendenhall, PhD, and David Rodgers, PhD, at Protein Core in the UK Center for Molecular Medicine.

Slusarewicz is a biochemist with experience in pharmaceuticals, biologics, and medical devices. He began his work in the equine field when he was able to transfer his work with proteins in humans to heal tendons in equines