As healthcare facilities grapple with personal protective equipment shortages,
West Virginia University researchers are going against the grain to help with
an earthy, unorthodox resource: wood.
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gloria Oporto, associate professor of
wood science and technology, had researched woody biomass for food packaging
and pharmacy novel applications. Woody biomass are timber-derived products that
can be converted to energy through combustion or gasification.
Oporto would grow increasingly concerned about reports of the lack of PPE for
medical professionals, sparking the question, “Why can’t we use renewable materials,
such as wood derivatives to supplement the PPE?” She then reached out to Rakesh
Gupta, chemical engineering professor.
With the aid of a National Science Foundation RAPID award for nearly $200,000,
Oporto, Gupta and their team will develop and test antimicrobial, renewable mask
biofilters constructed of composite biomaterials.
West Virginia University alumnus Md Asraful Jahan, a Bangladesh native, never
imagined the knowledge he gained as a graduate student would be invaluable to
his home country.
As a WVU graduate student studying genetics and developmental biology, Jahan
conducted research with Nikola Kovinich, then an assistant professor of genetics
in the Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design.
It was in Kovinich’s lab that Jahan learned the principles and methods of the
qRT-PCR technique – a powerful test used to determine the presence of a certain
gene in any samples tested and, most recently, in COVID-19 testing.
After receiving his Ph.D. in May 2019, Jahan returned to his alma mater in Bangladesh,
the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in the Department of Genetic
Engineering and Biotechnology.
Less than a year later, the COVID-19 pandemic spread across the world and few,
if any, countries were prepared to handle it.
After the government of Bangladesh requested help from Shahjalal University,
one of four universities to provide support, the vice-chancellor provided funding
to the Jahan’s department to develop a COVID-19 detection lab.
Read Putting Education into Practice
As the COVID-19 pandemic spread and hospitals began hemorrhaging supplies, West
Virginia University Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Design
faculty and students stepped up - and six feet away from each other.
Like the majority of the country, Elizabeth Shorrock, visiting assistant professor
of fashion, dress and merchandising, began working from home in mid-March; however,
she soon realized her background and skills might come in handy and asked to
use one of the fashion studios on campus to make face masks.
“With previous donations of fabric and donations from community and alumni,
I was able to start production on 10,000 face masks. We’ve probably made 6,500
at this point,” she said.
The fashion studio had been given quilt fabric and other types of fabric that
were considered a beneficial textile for homemade face masks.
However, as countries across the world scrambled for materials, most places
were entirely out of those fabrics and elastic, the material used to loop the
mask around the ears. Thankfully, Amy Bircher, owner of MMI Textiles and a Davis
College alumna, was able to supply 10,000 feet of elastic.
Following her education and hands-on laboratory experience at West Virginia University,
graduate student Samantha Fabian is leading the West Virginia National Guard’s
COVID-19 mobile testing laboratories.
WVNG Capt. Fabian serves as the program director for the mobile testing laboratories,
based in Morgantown and Charleston, which were the first in the nation to be approved
by the Department of Defense.
“Leading the charge for mobile testing has been a very exciting and rewarding
experience,” Fabian said. “I have appreciated the opportunity to combine the skills
and education I obtained from WVU with my military experience to establish a capability
to help respond to this pandemic.”
Fabian holds degrees in Animal Science, Applied and Environmental Microbiology,
Genetics and Developmental Biology, and she is currently working toward her Ph.D.
in Genetics and Developmental Biology at WVU.
The WVNG’s mobile testing labs — one based in Morgantown, which covers both panhandles
and sites in the northern part of the state; and one based in Charleston, which
covers central and southern West Virginia — became operational April 17.
Leading the COVID-19 testing effort
Cassandra Stewart lives a faith-filled life and seeks out opportunities to help
others whenever possible.
At the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, the fashion, dress and merchandising
senior felt compelled to use her sewing talents for a greater good.
"I have several family members who were ‘essential employees.’ My older sister
is a nurse; my cousin works for Charleston Area Medical Center, and my parents
own an automobile parts store,” she said. “I had all of these people around me
whose lives didn’t stop, and I saw it as a sign that I needed to do something.”
Temporarily living with her parents in Nitro, West Virginia, Stewart dusted off
the sewing machine she keeps there and raided a stash of fabric at her grandmother’s
house.
“My grandma, who actually taught me how to sew, is in an assisted living facility
and I knew she wouldn’t mind if I used her fabric. I figured out my pattern toward
the end of March and haven’t stopped sewing,” she said.
What initially began as an effort to keep her loved ones safe transformed into
donating masks to healthcare workers, friends and others in need.