Sheffield Lab helps Wesleyan weather COVID-19 pandemic

When Iowa Wesleyan wanted students to return to classrooms last summer, administrators knew that testing would be a key element of their plan.

The college turnedt o Sheffield Lab for a solution. On Wednesday, the university said thank you.

The two partnered for COVID testing back in November.

Iowa Wesleyan University President Chris Plunkett presented the lab with two certificates, one from the Iowa Wesleyan administration and one from the board of trustees, to show their appreciation for the partnership.

'We were trying to find a creative, innovative way to survive, especially right when COVID hit, and this partnership has allowed that to happen,” Plunkett said. 'It's the altruism of Sheffield Lab that has been critical to Iowa Wesleyan.”

The partnership between the two started when DeWayne Frazier of Iowa Wesleyan first reached out to Dr. Val Sheffield and his team.

'Frazier had a lot of knowledge in regard to the COVID tests,” Sheffield said. 'I could tell that he had looked into a lot of the different testing.”

When Sheffield Lab created its test kits, they had one goal in mind.

'We wanted to develop a test to share with the world for free,” Sheffield said. 'We wanted to give access to all, not just those with money.”

Sheffield and his lab team saw the need for reliable test kits at the beginning of the pandemic, and with the shortages for nasal swabs, they decided with a different approach for testing. The test kits include two tubes, one inside the other, and was designed so that an individual could complete the kit at home.

'The original instructions for the test kit were short, clear your throat, and hawk a loogie,” Sheffield said. 'But the idea is to get all the particles in your sinuses and throat in order to get an accurate reading.”

In addition to collecting particles from the back of the nose and throat, Sheffield Lab's test kit is accurate in its readings, using different combinations of five markers compared to other companies that use only one or two.

'We were able to get through the fall, and spring feels so much more confident, all thanks to the Sheffield Lab and the protocol setups around campus,” Meg Richtman, vice president of enrollment, marketing and communications said.

'In times of crisis, there are certain people who step up, and this team at Iowa Wesleyan has done that,” Dr. Calvin Carter, a team member of the Sheffield Lab said.