Thread by @michaelmina_lab

THREAD:

Today I am announcing a new massive public health research study - with @Citibank - to use and evaluate frequent at-home rapid testing. The study is evaluating how well workplace infections are prevented by frequent home-tests.

1/x

bloombergquint.com/onweb/citi-deb…

The study is evaluating whether rapid home-tests used ever M/W/F can successfully prevent workplace transmission better than current status quo of symptom screens and evaluates how well non-medical ppl can perform the tests on their own.

2/x

The rapid tests - which aren’t yet EUA’d but are used globally and we’ve found to be very effective in pilots - are being introduced in conjunction with @LivePerson’s Bella Health app to provide AI-powered assistance to help people at home learn how to use the tests.

3/x

If simple mobile tools like Bella Health and other apps can reliably help people to use these (and other medical devices) at home - it can pave way for a new generation removing need for $$ medical visits and increase equitable testing and increase the usefulness of tests

4/x

My hope, overall, is that this large clinical / public health study will help build a roadmap for how we can keep economies and schools open even where vaccines don’t yet exist and in event of new resurgence of transmission in fall.

5/x

I’m committed to helping us (society) not find ourselves having to distance from our loved ones for a year ever again. And I’ll keep working to identify creative avenues that prevent another year like the one we are emerging from. This study is part of that commitment.

6/x

These types of tests are (remarkably) not FDA authorized for frequent use at home. (The study participants are aware and sign consent)

This study will hopefully help @HHSGov & @CDCgov see why it is important that these tests be defined as public health tools - not medical tools.