EnteroTrack Founder Robin Shandas, Ph.D., Transforms GI Biopsies at Fitzsimons Innovation Community
For Robin Shandas, Ph.D., innovation begins with listening to physicians and patients who are frustrated by repeat biopsies and eager for relief. The bioengineer and entrepreneur, a Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering at University of Colorado Denver’s Department of Bioengineering, part of the College of Engineering, Design and Computing (CEDC) and uniquely co-located on the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, designs tools to make diagnosing and monitoring gastrointestinal (GI) conditions easier and more comfortable.
Shandas wanted to reimagine how doctors and patients monitor chronic upper GI conditions, co-founding EnteroTrack through a collaboration at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus with pediatric gastroenterologist Glenn Furuta, M.D. Their goal was ambitious: help patients, especially children, avoid repeat endoscopies.
From its home at Fitzsimons Innovation Community adjacent to the CU Anschutz Medical Campus, EnteroTrack developed EnteroTracker®, a simple, affordable device that collects samples from the upper GI tract without the cost, invasiveness, and downtime of endoscopies. Hospitals including Children’s Hospital Colorado, Phoenix Children’s, and Scripps Clinic rely on EnteroTracker, while new clinical studies are underway at CU Anschutz, Mayo Clinic, Stanford, and GlaxoSmithKline.
The results speak for themselves. With more than 800 patients studied in eight clinical trials, EnteroTracker has matched the sensitivity and specificity of endoscopic biopsies, delivering answers at a fraction of the cost, risk, and hassle. The company’s flagship product, the Esophageal String Test (EST), recently secured Medicare coverage, a milestone that expands access for patients with Eosinophilic Esophagitis (EoE) and other chronic GI diseases.
For patients, the impact can be life changing. One 11-year-old boy with chronic EoE was once limited by slow, sedated endoscopies to test food triggers. With EnteroTracker, he could try new foods safely and quickly, including turkey, soy, and fish, and moved off a failure-to-thrive diagnosis. He gained weight, expanded his diet, and found a brighter outlook for his future.
“For the 100 million Americans living with or at risk for chronic upper GI diseases, the EnteroTracker shows promise for revolutionizing and democratizing upper GI medical care,” Shandas says.
Colorado’s collaborative environment powers this kind of innovation. Fitzsimons Innovation Community provides specialized lab space and supportive ecosystem where early-stage companies thrive, alongside world-class partners at CU Anschutz. From this base, EnteroTrack continues to grow, scale, and deliver breakthroughs that improve lives.
