Stepping Up

Deep in the bowels of the College of Veterinary Medicine is a new lab. But don’t let its location fool you. This may be the most important lab right now on Iowa State University campus.

The new facility (Public Health Testing Services) was created by the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Rodger Main in response to COVID-19. Early in the pandemic, the VDL worked closely with the State Hygienic Lab at the University of Iowa in helping that facility meet the crush of testing requirements in Iowa.

The VDL transferred much-needed equipment and provided the State Hygienic Lab (SHL) with reagents daily to help assist the high thru-put PCR system. That assistance dramatically increased the number of tests the State Hygienic Lab has been able to process on a daily basis during those early days of the COVID-19 response in Iowa.

“By the third week of April it was apparent we needed do more,” Main said. “We had to add some additional capacity, not just helping the State Hygienic Lab, but also setting up a unit in the College of Veterinary Medicine where we could do testing.”

Learn more about the new PHTS in this story.