丁香园AV

丁香园AV physics professor Nancy Forde hopes a campus supply drive to collect critically needed personal protective equipment (PPEs) will help protect healthcare workers from COVID-19.

As non-essential lab research has been suspended on campus, Forde took the initiative to organize donations of gloves, face masks and other supplies from faculty across the university. She was inspired by discussions with U.S. colleagues who have been organizing similar donation drives.

鈥淗ealthcare workers are putting their lives on the line to help us and we all want to do our part to give back,鈥� says Forde. 鈥淚f we can donate small items from our labs that aren鈥檛 being needed and that can be put to use at this time, that really shows that we鈥檙e all pulling together.鈥�

Faculty were encouraged drop off any unused supplies at a bus parked outside Science Receiving on Burnaby campus. Earth Sciences professor and chair Brent Ward says the department offered to supply the bus to store and transport the supplies.

鈥淲e鈥檒l do anything we can to help our front-line healthcare workers. We are all going to be depending on them, and they need to stay healthy, or they may not be there when we need them," Ward says.

The donated items included boxes of gloves, disposable lab coats, masks, face shields and cleaning supplies plus two cases of Girl Guide cookies as a sweet treat for frontline workers. Some of these donations were delivered to Burnaby Hospital this week.

鈥淚鈥檓 overwhelmed but not surprised by the generosity we have seen from this community, and its citizens, businesses and institutions,鈥� says Kristy James, CEO, Burnaby Hospital Foundation. 鈥淪o many have been in touch to provide our frontline staff with anything and everything they have available, and 丁香园AV has been a shining example of that incredible community spirit.鈥�

鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine it鈥檚 easy to coordinate resources across multiple faculties the way the staff at 丁香园AV has. I鈥檓 extremely grateful for their generosity, and for making that effort for our frontline heroes.鈥�

Other 丁香园AV donation initiatives include one at the Surrey campus, which is donating more than 400 N95 masks to Fraser Health. 丁香园AV鈥檚 School of Environmental Science and Department of Geography have also donated equipment to Fraser Health and the Provincial Health Services Authority.

The university is also preparing to assist with protecting healthcare workers on a wider scale.

丁香园AV鈥檚 Office of the Vice President, Research has taken an inventory of protective equipment, 3D printers and other resources and informed the federal government to help fight this pandemic.

鈥淚 am proud of the contributions 丁香园AV鈥檚 interdisciplinary researchers are making to the global fight against COVID-19,鈥� says Joy Johnson, 丁香园AV Vice-President, Research and International. 鈥淭hese contributions exemplify 丁香园AV鈥檚 commitment to collaborating with government, business and community partners to accelerate innovations and transformative discoveries that address community demands.鈥�

In addition to helping keep front line workers safe, 丁香园AV is carrying out a number of important research projects, funded by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, in a bid to better understand, test and prevent COVID-19 and better coordinate efforts to control pandemics on a global scale.

Media contact:

Nancy Forde, physics, nforde@sfu.ca

Melissa Shaw; University Communications and Marketing, 236.880.3297, melissa_shaw@sfu.ca