Summit Biofilm Research Institute is a contract research organization specializing in biofilm testing, characterization, and high resolution imaging, from rapid benchtop screening to in vivo study design, with full client ownership of IP and data on every engagement.
Summit Biofilm Research Institute (SBRI) is an independent contract research organization focused entirely on biofilms, the structured microbial communities behind chronic infection, medical device fouling, and industrial persistence.
We test, characterize, and image biofilms for clients across medical, industrial, and consumer sectors. Our work spans the full study lifecycle, from in vitro benchtop assays to in vivo study design with veterinary partners, and ranges from single studies to multiyear clinical programs. Whatever the scale, we deliver data that holds up to scrutiny and answers that move programs forward.
Directed by Michael P. Bechill, Ph.D., SBRI brings rigorous scientific method and clean commercial terms to biofilm research.
Based at Electric Works · Fort Wayne, Indiana
Virtus et ScientiaFrom rapid standardized screening to bespoke flow studies and high resolution imaging, our services scale to the depth your program needs.
Reproducible, high throughput susceptibility and viability testing to benchmark actives and formulations against established biofilms.
Physiologically relevant biofilms grown and observed under controlled flow, capturing dynamics that static assays miss.
Structural and quantitative characterization down to the super resolution scale, with 4D confocal video and surface metrology.
Our capabilities are backed by research grade instrumentation spanning imaging, microfluidics, automation, and analysis.
Every study at SBRI is recorded in SciNote, the electronic laboratory notebook used by the FDA and USDA. From the first sample to the final report, data acquisition is captured with a complete, time stamped audit trail.
Success and failure criteria are specified in advance, before any data is acquired, and every action is traceable to what was done, when, how, and by whom. The result is a clean, defensible record built to support regulated development programs.
In vitro benchtop screening, flow studies, and high resolution imaging through to in vivo study design with veterinary animal hospital partners. We support programs that run for years, including work embedded at clients through clinical trials.
Standard screening studies can turn around in as little as two to four weeks, so early decisions are never stuck waiting in an academic queue.
The combination of Elveflow microfluidics and live confocal imaging captures biofilm behavior under real flow, a capability few labs offer.
The other laboratories specializing in biofilms are academic centers. SBRI is a private, independent contract research organization, with no university affiliation, no consortium membership, and no technology transfer office standing between you and your results.
Clients retain full ownership of all intellectual property and data. Nothing is licensed back to you, and nothing is shared with anyone else.
Every engagement is private. Your study is never pooled into a shared consortium or steered toward publication.
We work with clients wherever they are, with no regional limits, on clean contracts built for speed and clarity rather than grant cycles.
SBRI is based at Electric Works, the former General Electric campus of 39 acres in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Established in 1883, it was once one of America's great hotbeds of electrical invention, employing a third of the city at its peak.
Today it has been reborn as a mixed use innovation district of 1.2 million square feet, a community of companies, laboratories, makers, and students. It is a fitting home for a research institute built on advancing the science of biofilms.
Tell us what you are testing and what decision the data needs to support, and we will scope a study and turn it around quickly.