In 2020, Instrumental Access awardees used their labs and expertise to contribute to their institutional, regional, and national responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
From producing hand sanitizers to running diagnostics labs, Instrumental Access awardees were essential workers in this global fight.
Though no one was entirely prepared for the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists around the globe were required to respond. The world needed the ability to test and contact trace; labs that had the necessary equipment stepped up to answer this urgent call. Because the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) received a 2018 Instrumental Access award, Dr. Gama Bandawe and his lab already had most of the equipment they needed to join the fight against COVID-19.
When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Armenia, Arsen Arakelyan, PhD, director of the Institute of Molecular Biology (IMB) of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Armenia, had a particular challenge. He and his lab were tasked with delivering reliable COVID-19 diagnostic tests to fulfill the increased demand for testing, while considering the existing peculiarities of national infrastructure.
Thanks to equipment from Seeding Labs, the Institute of Tropical Medicine & Global Health is playing an important role in pandemic response.
The COVID-19 pandemic has not yet hit Armenia as hard as some other countries. Instrumental Access awardee Arsen Arakelyan, PhD, and colleagues have plans to keep the virus in check by using equipment from Seeding Labs in conjunction with a significant investment from the government of Armenia.
Seeding Lab proudly donated 12,000 N95 masks to Partners HealthCare to arm healthcare providers in the COVID-19 pandemic response.
Dr. Thabile Ndlovu, Head of the Department of Chemistry at the University of Eswatini and an Instrumental Access awardee, realized that she could help her country’s COVID-19 response. She approached her University leadership with her idea: use their lab infrastructure to mass produce hand sanitizer, and bolster pandemic response in their community.
Seeding Labs is open and operating remotely. We are 100% committed to our mission of empowering every scientist to change the world. In these unprecedented times, we’re also committed to doing whatever we can to stem the healthcare capacity crisis at home, as we know you are, too.
