Graduate students in the US are stepping in to help with testing for SARS-CoV-2, according to NPR.
"Normally, when people say they need someone in an emergency, it's not a science grad student," Katie Cabral, a PhD student at the University of California, San Francisco, tells NPR. "But in this case, my particular qualifications are exactly what is needed."
SARS-CoV-2 tests are PCR based — a skill many biomedical graduate students have and one that testing sites need.
Cabral, NPR adds, is volunteering at a testing center organized by UCSF and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, which has asked for graduate student-volunteers with the needed skills. The pair, which announced its partnership earlier this month, said at the time that it hoped to boost testing capability for UCSF and reach the ability to process 1,000 tests per day.
Other spots like the University of California, Berkeley, and the University of Washington are also turning to students with the needed skills to help with testing, NPR says.