“Let’s go save some lives” As the pandemic ripped through Arizona communities unimpeded, Arizona State University acted decisively to bend the curve of infections downward. Teams across the entire university sprang into action to meet the critical needs for testing and tracking the virus and providing vaccines. Though the initial shock of the pandemic may be behind us, researchers from disciplines across ASU are tackling challenges that still lie ahead, from improving vaccines and tracking viral variants to understanding and treating long COVID. More than 70 key players meet at 8 a.m., three days a week, to strategize and mobilize. ASU Biodesign Institute Executive Director Joshua LaBaer signs off each meeting with, “Let’s go save some lives.” Within a year of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S., ASU researchers, faculty, staff, students and partners have:
Stood up and operated
hundreds of COVID-19 testing sites throughout Arizona.
Provided key data to
track and predict the spread of the pandemic and its impact.
Set up a clinically approved and
certified COVID-19 testing lab.
Developed and deployed the
first salivabased COVID-19 PCR test publicly available in the U.S.
4
