COVID Research Lab: The Biorepository Fund

The Biorepository will not only assist with research for this pandemic but will help us prepare for the next epidemic or pandemic.

As a response to the COVID-19 crisis, LSU Health School of Medicine has initiated an effort to better understand and treat the disease. Dr. Steve Nelson, Dean of the School of Medicine, established a COVID research program that begins with the funding of pilot research grants. The COVID Biorepository has been established as a centralized resource that collects and provides biospecimens from COVID-19 patients and uninfected control samples. Those biosamples will include plasma, serum, peripheral blood mononuclear cells, nasal swabs, nasopharyngeal swabs, saliva, and stool samples. The COVID-19 biorepository functions under standard operating procedures (SOPs), quality control for sample collection, and a common database to track consent, samples, and manage requests to dispense biological samples and data.
The building of the biorepository is important to:

• Assist with the scientific response to the COVID-19 pandemic
• Foster a broad array of research projects, and will be used not only for acute but also for longer-term studies
• Create an infrastructure to help LSU Health better prepare to respond to the next epidemic or pandemic