Emory, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta seek volunteers for COVID-19 test study

ATLANTA – Emory University and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta are looking for adults and children showing symptoms of COVID-19 to participate in a study helping to test COVID-19 tests. To be eligible, individuals must have symptoms and not have been tested for the virus during their current course of illness.

Those who fit the criteria should come to a new Emory testing site at 59 Executive Park South, Atlanta, GA 30329. As part of the study, all individuals will receive a COVID-19 PCR test at no cost to them and may be asked to provide additional samples (nasal or oral swabs or saliva). Participants will also receive a $50 gift card as compensation for their time. Standard COVID-19 results are usually available within 24 to 48 hours. Appointments take approximately 30 minutes and can be scheduled online here:

https://is.gd/RADxCovidScheduler

Emory, Children’s and Georgia Tech comprise the Atlanta Center for Microsystems Engineered Point-of-Care Technologies (ACME POCT), and are leading the national effort to test COVID tests as part of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) program. RADx, which is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was established to help bring new COVID-19 diagnostics tools to market for use in clinics, hospitals and people’s homes.

“Research is only as strong as the community behind it. Participating in this study will help us ensure that the COVID tests which reach the drugstore shelves are reliable, fast and user friendly,” says Wilbur Lam, MD, PhD, one of the study’s principal investigators.

Another of the principal investigators, Greg Martin, MD, MSc, says “widely accessible tests are critical as we move toward normal.”

“As we move into the next phase of this pandemic, tests are key to minimizing the spread of COVID,” Martin says.

Emory, Children’s and Georgia Tech have received more than $64 million from the NIH since the pandemic began for their RADx work. This new research site will be staffed with nurses and research coordinators from both Children’s and Emory, providing support for participants of all ages during their visit.

Many of the at-home and point-of-care COVID tests available today have been put through their paces in Atlanta as part of their work towards Emergency Use Authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Lam is a pediatric hematologist and oncologist at Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, professor of the Emory University School of Pediatrics and at the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering.

Martin is a professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine with the Emory University School of Medicine Department of Medicine and past president for the Society of Critical Care Medicine.