SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) Testing Service Bundle

NEWS

recent past

Due to the increasing demand of SARS-CoV-2 patient sample testing, the DAMP Lab is developing a dedicated large-scale SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) testing pipeline to provide and increase COVID-19 testing capacity to the Boston University’s community. We develop and apply our laboratory automation computational and hardware tools to perform experimental tasks in the service of the testing requirements of the University. The new facility has been equipped with multiple liquid handling robots, qPCR machines, and associated automation equipment to follow CDC guidelines and perform high-throughput SARS CoV-2 (COVID-19) RT-qPCR screening. The pipeline is configured to provide +5000 tests/day.

This page offers the most recent news regarding the COVID-19 testing effort by the DAMP lab, the involvement of the DAMP team, a gallery of relevant images, access to DAMP’s Github repository, relevant publications, and other resources related to COVID-19 testing effort. Finally, we also provide the latest updates on service bundles that will be available to internal and external costumers of the DAMP Lab.

September 16, 2021

COVID-19 Publication

June 25, 2021

COVID-19 Publication

November 10, 2020

BU's Secrets to Fight COVID

October 15, 2020

Meet the COVID Lab Team

August 27, 2020

NBC NEWS

August 21, 2020

NBC Boston - Rapid Testing

August 16, 2020

Testing Data Dashboard

August 6, 2020

Testing Passes Its First Test

August 4, 2020

The Science Behind the Plan

June 28, 2020

BU’s COVID Testing Plans

July 23, 2020

NBC NEWS

July 14, 2020

Construction Time Lapse

June 17, 2020

Details of COVID-19 Testing

May 21, 2020

Q&A: How BU Plans to Test

May 21, 2020

BU to Set Up COVID-19 Tests

PUBLICATIONS

Landaverde, L., McIntyre, D., Robson, J., Fu, D., Ortiz, L., Chen, R., Oliveira, S.M.D., [...] (2021) Detailed Overview of the Buildout and Integration of an Automated High-Throughput CLIA Laboratory for SARS-CoV-2 Testing on a Large Urban Campus. medRxiv. doi:10.1101/2021.09.13.21263214.

Hamer, D.H., [...], Densmore, D., Brown, R.A. (2021) Assessment of a COVID-19 Control Plan on an Urban University Campus During a Second Wave of the Pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.16425

SERVICES

COVID-19 Testing

COVID-19 Infrastructure

COVID-19 Research

COVID-19 Research

If you are interested in performing experiments using the DAMP Lab’s infrastructure, such as our automation facility (Hamilton and qPCR devices), you can request access or discuss possible research collaborations by contacting us. Please provide a short explanation of your project, and how you envision the relationship (i.e., service or research collaboration)

COVID-19 Testing

This service is currently exclusively offered to the Boston University Community. For information on how to get tested at BU, please visit the Back2BU website (https://www.bu.edu/back2bu/covid-19-testing-tracing). The DAMP lab will provide COVID-19 testing bundles for individuals outside the BU community (TBA).

COVID-19 Infrastructure

We have developed automation software tools to tackle high-throughput problems, such as Hamilton Microlab Star, QuantStudio 7 (for the qPCR machines), Aquarium Protocol Scripts, and OT2 Scripts for COVID-19 Plate Preparation before qPCR. To download these and other tools, please visit DAMP’s Github page at https://github.com/damplab. In terms of instrumentation, the COVID facility is equipped with 5x Lab safety cabinets, 5x qPCR machines, and 8x Hamilton liquid handlers. See the related images in the gallery below. Our google scholar profile provides access to our published materials.