In addition to giving supplies, one lab is mixing a critically needed medium for virus testing.
Brown faculty and staff have gathered more than 4,000 critical N95 respirator face masks along with supplies of gloves, gowns, face shields, and other items for donation to the Rhode Island Department of Health as well as the Lifespan and Care New England hospital systems. Meanwhile a Brown biomedical lab is producing and donating a component critical in testing for novel coronavirus infections, which will be important slowing the spread of the virus.
The supplies were sourced from Brown’s Environmental Health and Safety office as well as laboratories in the Division of Biology and Medicine, chemistry, engineering, physics, and even the Brown University Library, where masks are used in work to preserve archives and other historical materials.
“Health care professionals here in Rhode Island and across the country are doing heroic work in caring for COVID-19 patients,” says Jack A. Elias, MD, senior vice president for health affairs and dean of medicine and biological sciences. “We hope that these donations of much-needed testing supplies and personal protective equipment will play a role in helping to keep those frontline personnel safe during the days and weeks ahead. I am very proud of our faculty on the front lines and our faculty and staff for coming together to make this happen. We will continue to work with agencies and providers in the state to make sure we’re contributing wherever we can.”
