A Letter from Dr. Allen Eaves Regarding COVID-19

FOUNDER, PRESIDENT, AND CEO OF STEMCELL TECHNOLOGIES

Dear Friends in the Research Community,

SARS-CoV-2 has moved rapidly around the world with a devastating impact. Although it is too early to know how this will play out, we can say with certainty that it is ultimately up to us—the scientific community—to help solve this problem.

At STEMCELL, we are taking the spread of the virus very seriously and ensuring that our employees are safe and available to serve you. By early March, all of our office staff were working from the safety of their homes. To protect the well-being of our essential on-site staff and their families, we put in place additional sanitation, PPE procedures, and policies for physical distancing. Our manufacturing and quality control labs remain operational, as do our global shipping and distribution facilities. Our supply chain is intact and we do not anticipate any disruptions in service.

Resolving the COVID-19 pandemic is an immediate and urgent focus of our community. We are proud that STEMCELL’s PneumaCult media was used to grow the epithelial cells from which the virus was isolated and sequenced, that our intestinal organoid culture system was used to help identify a potential treatment target, and that our cell separation tools are being used to isolate immune cells from infected patients to help identify vaccine candidates. We are also actively working on developing new technologies that will help accelerate viral research and ensure we are all better prepared for future outbreaks.

Of course, we recognize that we must not let other areas fall behind. Research focusing on devastating diseases such as cancer, diabetes, autoimmune, and neurodegenerative diseases is also essential. If your lab is operational we will ensure you have the reagents and tools you need to continue your important work.

For those who are not able to be in the lab, I encourage you to catch up on the literature using our STEMCELL Science Newsletters, hear the latest from colleagues by listening to our Stem Cell Podcast, and to attend our webinars on organoids and other topics. This is a great opportunity to have new insights and creative thoughts.

Throughout this crisis and always, the scientific community is united by our commitment and tenacity to help solve the world’s biomedical challenges. We will come through these troubling times armed with new discoveries, technologies, and collaborations.

Wishing you all the best,

Allen Eaves