With

Dr. Ramy Arnaout is a pioneer in immunome sequencing and analysis, a clinical laboratory director of microbiology at a major Harvard Medical School associated teaching hospital, and successful entrepreneur. During the COVID-19 pandemic, these diverse skills and experiences were called upon to address the world-wide shortage in nasopharyngeal SARS-CoV-2 testing swabs, which he did by developing and completing clinical trials on four independent 3D-printed swabs in just three weeks. These went on to be used by the hundreds of thousands across the country and around the world, until manufacturing capacity for traditional swabs was back to normal. This work was covered on NPR, in the Washington Post, and elsewhere. In this presentation, he will discuss the lessons learned and guiding principles or “lodestars” from this experience, with an emphasis on how they can guide rapid, safe, efficient improvements in the clinical laboratories and medicine more generally in the post-pandemic world.

Learning Objectives:
By the end of this presentation and Q&A session, participants will be able to:
1. Identify and state the importance of obstacles to rapid development of clinical solutions.
2. Name and define five principles for rapid development of clinical solutions.
3. Describe methods, needs, and interests for instituting these principles even in non-emergent situations.