Scientists had been warning us
As predicted by the scientific community, the COVID-19 pandemic is hitting the world with full force. The speed at which the infection spreads is absolutely terrifying. However, learning from past pandemics, the authorities have taken measures to slow the progression of the disease in an attempt to prevent a shortage of medical resources. While some countries reacted fast, others waited a tad too long before taking the appropriate measures and are now facing an unprecedented health crisis. In any cases, the result of this pandemic is a massive disruption in the personal and professional activities of a majority of the world's population.
Our expertise could come in handy
As scientists, children of aging parents and parents ourselves, we truly understand the importance of the ongoing research in hopes of putting down the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Over the past years, we had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects, some of them actually involved Coronavirus research. During my Ph.D., I had the opportunity to develop expertise around virus glycoprotein activation, development of antiviral agents and immune response to viral and pathogen infection.Those expertises have been transferred to PhenoSwitch and are highly valuable to current research on COVID-19, including:
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Rapid PK/PD (for putative new drugs or established drugs);
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Glycoprotein activation assays (in vitro and/or in vivo);
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Protein identification;
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Proteomics studies;
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Biomarker discovery;
Being a SME in Quebec has its advantages
The Quebec government has been absolutely flawless in its response to COVID-19. It's fast and decisive measures in an effort to "flatten the curve" gives the Quebecers a feeling of preparedness and a desire to help those who were hit the hardest by the pandemic. While the measures included a closure of most of the academic institutions (and their core facilities) here in Quebec, some essential businesses are still free to operate, while maintaining elevated social distancing and hygiene measures. And as such, we are maintaining our operations. This means that we will be available to help anyone who may require our analytical services during this unprecedented crisis. For those who wish to, you can read more on the special procedures we put in place to make sure our employees stay as safe as can be here.
We are here to help
The strength of our response to the virus will be as great as the research efforts we put into it. Therefore, we need to act fast, and hard. PhenoSwitch's team has a broad array of expertise and combined to mass spectrometry technics, we want to join the battle. So if you need analytical services, scientific counseling, lab work or are looking for a collaboration to work on the virus, you are welcome to reach out to us.