Mason scientists Lance Liotta and Virginia Espina share how their research helps expand on-campus COVID testing

John Hollis — Thu, 04 Feb 2021 19:12:12 +0000

Mason scientists Lance Liotta and Virginia Espina share how their research helps expand on-campus COVID testing John Hollis Thu, 02/04/2021 - 14:12

Lance Liotta in the WGMU studios recording the Access to Excellence podcast. Photo by Naomi Fore

You鈥檒l forgive聽海角社区 President聽Gregory Washington聽for his admitted 鈥減roud father moment,鈥� but聽he聽couldn鈥檛 help but be excited during the latest聽鈥淎ccess to Excellence鈥�聽podcast when聽talking about聽recent COVID-19 research breakthroughs with Mason scientists聽Lance Liotta聽and聽Virginia Espina.聽

鈥淭his is how academic research matters,鈥� Washington said. 鈥淭his is how academic research can actually provide solutions that literally can impact the world. And it is happening right now, right here at 海角社区.鈥澛�

Liotta is聽the co-director and the co-founder of Mason鈥檚聽Center for Applied Proteomics and Molecular Medicine聽within the聽College of Science,聽and聽Espina is聽the research professor who oversees the center鈥檚聽high-tech lab that has been certified by the College of American Pathologists (CAP) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services through the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA).聽

They have created聽a new rapid-result, saliva-based COVID-19 test that will allow Mason to significantly expand its testing capabilities this spring. They also聽聽developed聽a new method to analyze COVID-19聽antibodies to track response to the virus and to the vaccine. These advancements聽are part of a larger, comprehensive program designed to better track and control the virus on campus and help keep Mason聽students, faculty and staff safe.聽

鈥淭his is part of your whole plan, President Washington,聽your whole plan聽to reduce the total incidents and聽to聽have everybody聽experience the joy of being at聽Mason at the same time,鈥� Liotta said.聽

The use of the saliva test with the recently acquired Fluidigm system, which is designed to analyze large numbers of test samples, will help Mason increase testing capacity from 1,000 tests per week to a goal of 10,000 by March.聽

鈥淏y testing frequently and testing large numbers, we can prevent the outbreaks,鈥� Espina said. 鈥淯sing saliva tests, it makes it so easy for people to donate. It鈥檚 painless鈥攜ou literally spit in a tube. It鈥檚 much cheaper, and it鈥檚 much quicker than a nasal test.鈥澛�

Liotta鈥檚 team is聽a聽multidisciplinary one that is internationally recognized for its expertise in diagnostic testing. He and Espina, who have been working together for 19 years,聽spoke with Washington about how they聽quickly聽pivoted away from their primary work in cancer research to help in the fight against COVID-19 following the start of the global pandemic last spring.聽

鈥淢y day job is COVID testing, my evening job is COVID testing, and my night job is thinking about all the research,鈥� joked聽Espina, who has a PhD in biosciences from Mason.聽

Their efforts could reap added dividends later, Liotta said.聽

鈥淓verything we鈥檝e learned about COVID is not just applied only to COVID,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t gives us insights into other diseases we鈥檙e studying.鈥澛�

Washington聽noted the聽many possible commercial and technological opportunities that are sure to arise in the wake of the pandemic and how they could potentially聽benefit Mason students as well. Liotta likened the potential cross-fertilization to that seen following the moon landing in 1969.聽

鈥淓veryone benefits from that,鈥� Washington said. 鈥淢ore importantly, students are inspired.鈥澛�

The spotlight on COVID-19 research is the latest of its kind on the 鈥淎ccess to Excellence鈥� podcast that is quickly growing in popularity.聽聽

The podcast saw a record 292 downloads in January, a nearly 57% increase since the previous month, including 232 downloads since Jan. 11. The recent podcast on the climate change imperative with聽Andrew Light聽had the most first week downloads of any episode so far. Go to聽podcast.gmu.edu聽to check out these and other episodes.聽