March 27, 2020

School of Medicine researchers donate PPE to clinical care teams

The call went out, and researchers of the Wayne State University School of Medicine responded.

PPE donations
Researchers working in the labs at the School of Medicine donated these boxes of supplies to those working in the hospitals of the Detroit Medical Center during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For weeks now, Americans have read and seen news reports about the dire need for personal protective equipment – gowns, masks, face shields, gloves – in the nation’s hospitals. State governors are pleading with the federal government to supply the gear, and some hospitals have adopted the drastic step of having physicians and medical staff treating COVID-19 patients wear the same PPE while treating numerous patients. In ordinary circumstances, physicians would change all such equipment between seeing separate patients.

To help meet the demand for PPE in area hospitals, Wayne State University Vice President for Research Steve Lanier, Ph.D., issued a call to the university’s researchers requesting any gear they may have in their laboratories to donate to area hospitals.

School of Medicine researchers responded with boxes of gloves, N95 masks and other gear, to be donated to hospitals of the Detroit Medical Center.

“I couldn't be prouder of our researchers, who stepped up when presented with the need,” said Linda Hazlett, Ph.D., vice dean of Research and Graduate Programs, the Robert S. Jampel, M.D., Ph.D., Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology, and distinguished professor and vice chair of Ophthalmology, Visual and Anatomical Sciences. “Thank you to all of the principal investigators for their generosity and sharing of personal protective equipment to assist our clinical colleagues who are on the forefront of COVID-19 patient care.”

School of Medicine Dean Jack D. Sobel, M.D., added his appreciation. “Their contribution is impressive. Our researchers have really stepped up during this crisis to help their colleagues and, ultimately, assist the patients those colleagues are treating in our affiliated hospitals,” he said.

If others in the School of Medicine community have additional PPE equipment to donate, please contact Julie O'Connor in the Office of the Vice President for Research at julie.oconnor@wayne.edu.

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