The Board of Managers of a new organization created to expand the reach of saliva-based COVID-19 testing pioneered by University of Illinois researchers installed its inaugural slate of officers during an organizational meeting Wednesday.
The board also approved governing documents and operational agreements that will guide Shield T3 as it begins work to nationally market the new technology, which supports widespread testing with rapid results to limit spread of the COVID-19 virus.
The U of I System created the new university-related organization just over a week ago and is moving quickly to get it up and running, President Tim Killeen said. He said interest has surged from across the country since researchers in Urbana-Champaign unveiled the technology to promote safety when on-campus instruction resumes next week. Since then, it has been expanded to the U of I System’s universities in Chicago and Springfield.
“This breakthrough technology by our brilliant researchers is a game changer, and we want to put it to work as soon as possible to safeguard lives and livelihoods across the country,” Killeen said.
The meeting came on the same day that Urbana-Champaign learned its saliva-based testing is now operating under the umbrella of an Emergency Use Authorization approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA approval is a move toward expanding testing because labs created for testing elsewhere could seek similar authorization.
Donald J. Edwards, who also serves as chair of the U of I Board of Trustees, was elected chair of Shield T3’s nine-member Board of Managers during Wednesday’s inaugural meeting. An Urbana-Champaign alumnus, he is now chief executive officer of Flexpoint Ford, a Chicago-based private equity investment firm he founded in 2004 that manages approximately $4 billion in assets.
Mike Tokarz was elected as vice chair. Tokarz, who earned his bachelor’s degree and MBA from Urbana-Champaign, is chairman and founder of Tokarz Group Advisors, a private merchant bank.
The board also elected Urbana-Champaign Provost Andreas Cangellaris as the third member of the board’s Executive Committee, where he will join Edwards and Tokarz in considering urgent business that arises and cannot wait until the next regularly scheduled meeting.
The board also named Bill Jackson, executive director of the Discovery Partners Institute, as principal officer. In that role, Jackson will assist the board in recruiting a talented management team, and will help establish agendas for future meetings, working closely with the board’s chair. Jackson also serves as a member of the Board of Managers.
Shield T3, which will operate as a limited liability company, grew from the breakthrough SHIELD program developed by Urbana-Champaign researchers. The name is a reference to their efforts to shield the campus community from the COVID-19 virus.
It features a saliva-based test that is easy to administer, scalable, sensitive and specific to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The test produces rapid results, at costs significantly below current alternatives such as nasal swabs. Results are available within two to six hours rather than three to four days or more.
The quick turnaround time for test results is a key in curbing the virus, allowing isolation early enough to limit spread of the infection as well as narrowing down past exposure to allow more-effective contact tracing. It also identifies and isolates people with asymptomatic cases who would otherwise spread the virus unknowingly.
Along with the Shield T3 and its national efforts, the U of I System has also created a new internal unit that is working to make the tests available in Illinois. The unit, known as SHIELD Illinois, will continue building current testing capacity, and hopes to ultimately offer testing to institutions and entities across the state.
