Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust helps Iowa State University researchers develop an at-home, quick-response test strip for coronavirus detection
AMES, Iowa – The Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust of Muscatine, Iowa, has committed $300,793 over two years to support an Iowa State University researcher’s group that is developing a quick-response paper test strip using saliva to detect coronavirus infection.
“We have been developing this technology since late spring 2020 soon after the pandemic began. This support has allowed us to make the leap to the next stage and to accelerate progress,” said Robbyn Anand, an Iowa State assistant professor of chemistry and leader of the project.
A rapid test strip, or lateral flow assay, is a simple-to-use diagnostic device used to confirm the presence or absence of pathogens or biomarkers in humans or animals. The most commonly known type of lateral flow rapid test strip is the pregnancy test.
However, to reliably detect the virus that causes COVID-19, the lateral flow assays must be 100 to 1,000 times more sensitive, according to Anand. These types of tests can also be used for other viruses, helping to protect against their spread and allowing for timely treatment.
For the COVID-19 project, Anand and her research team recently developed a method to accumulate a biomarker within a paper strip and retain it for a specified incubation time, thereby enhancing sensitivity. With the Carver Trust’s support, the researchers will pursue a clinical study that is sufficiently large to obtain estimates of diagnostic sensitivity and selectivity. If success metrics are met, the Iowa State researchers will initiate prototype fabrication and the larger scale testing required by regulatory agencies to approve at-home use of the developed test strip for detecting the coronavirus.
They will continue their research effort to develop a technology optimized for the highest sensitivity attainable by their method for multiple classes of analytes in several distinct biofluids. The researchers will pursue this technology beyond the grant period due to its broad applicability to viral diagnosis.
The Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust of Muscatine, Iowa, is one of the largest private philanthropic foundations in the state of Iowa, with assets of $350 million and annual grant distributions of $16 million. It was created through the will of Roy J. Carver, a Muscatine industrialist and philanthropist, who died in 1981.
The Carver Trust made its gift commitment through the Iowa State University Foundation. The foundation is a private, nonprofit organization committed to securing and managing gifts that benefit Iowa State University. The Forever True, For Iowa State campaign, with a historic goal to raise $1.5 billion, will help support Iowa State in becoming the premier land-grant university for the 21st century and beyond.
Contact:
Robbyn Anand, assistant professor of chemistry, Iowa State University, 515.294.8944, rkanand@iastate.edu
Elaine Watkins-Miller, Communications, Iowa State University Foundation, 515.294.1005, ewmiller@foundation.iastate.edu
December 22, 2020