From research to rapid response: mass COVID-19 testing by volunteers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation.
Ritobrata GhoseÁlvaro Aranguren-IbáñezNiccolò AreccoDiego BalboaMarc BatallerSergi BeltranHannah BenistyAngèle BénardEdgar BernardoSílvia Carbonell SalaEloi CasalsLudovica CiampiLivia CondemiAlberto CorvóMarta Cosín-TomásMirabai Cuenca-ArduraJuan Manuel Duran SerranoMaría Isabel Espejo DíazMarcos Fernandez CallejoAntoni Gañez-ZapaterRaquel Garcia-CastellanosRomina GarridoGil HenkinAntonio Hermoso PulidoXavier Hernandez-AliasJorge Herrero VicenteMatthew InghamWei Ming LimSílvia LlonchElena Marmesat BertoliIrene Miguel-EscaladaAriadna Montero-BlayCristina Navarrete HernándezMaria Victoria NeguemborRóisín-Ana Ní ChárthaighNatalia PardoLaura Pascual-ReguantSílvia Pérez-LluchReyes PerzaMartina PesaresiDaniel Picó AmadorPaula PifarréDavide PisciaMarcos Plana-CarmonaJulia PonomarenkoLeandro RaduskyEzequiel RiveroMalgorzata Ewa RogalskaGuillem Torcal GarciaJosé WojnackiPublished in: F1000Research (2020)
The COVID-19 pandemic has posed and is continuously posing enormous societal and health challenges worldwide. The research community has mobilized to develop novel projects to find a cure or a vaccine, as well as to contribute to mass testing, which has been a critical measure to contain the infection in several countries. Through this article, we share our experiences and learnings as a group of volunteers at the Centre for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona, Spain. As members of the ORFEU project, an initiative by the Government of Catalonia to achieve mass testing of people at risk and contain the epidemic in Spain, we share our motivations, challenges and the key lessons learnt, which we feel will help better prepare the global society to address similar situations in the future.