CDI, Hackensack Meridian Health Launch Grassroots ‘NJ Stands up to COVID’
April 22, 2020
The Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI) is performing detailed antibody assessments on recovered COVID-19 patients to identify those individuals with the highest neutralizing titers of antibodies that can be used for convalescent plasma therapy.
Thousands of recovered patients have offered to donate blood, and we need to screen ALL of them to find a subset of “super donors” who can save lives through infusions performed at John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center.
The cost of the test is $10 per screen. We are looking for 1 million NJ partners who want to help us save a life for a $10 donation.
This grassroots effort has launched a website at “NJ Stands up to COVID.”
“This is applied science in ‘real-time,’ as this pandemic continues to spread,” said David S. Perlin, Ph.D., the chief scientific officer and senior vice president of the CDI. “Our scientists at the CDI are responding to an unmet medical need of the highest order, and we’re hoping to save lives.”
“Research at Hackensack Meridian Health is more important than ever, and we are hopeful it will give us the edge against this pandemic,” said Ihor Sawczuk, M.D., FACS, president of Hackensack Meridian Health’s Northern Region, and the chief research officer of the network.