I've had 36 years in this industry.
Like many of you that have been around for a while thinking - "now what?"
I'm no longer doing this only for finances - I've been fortunate enough that I can decide what I want to do next with my life....in a very limited way, albeit!
I'm only 53 years old. As much as I LOVE to golf, workout, sit in a kayak and explore those trails all over Arizona. I'm just not ready.
Then BOOM the biggest challenge of my life is presented. So here we all are!
"Now What"
One nice thing about being the old dog in the biz, just like Howard Farran....we have met a few people over time. Incredible people. Genius. Not always just dental industry related either.
You never know when someone you meet may just change your life. Life my friend that I used to play rec hockey with .. Jerome Konecsni.
Neither of us made the NHL - so good thing we were both pretty good at other things. Me with having a knack for meeting incredibly smart people, and Jerome...well here is his resume.
Jerome Konescni is an aware winning innovator and experienced executive. He has been a member of teams that have received national award in innovation and science. As a Director General at the National Research Council, he was a member of a team that was awarded the National Public Service Award of Excellence of contribution in science - the first 100% bio-jet fuel flight in the world. As Vice President of Bioriginal Food and Science, he was the manager of the team that recieved the NRC innovative product award.
The team accomplished four world firsts in lipid biosynthesis. He has held a variety of executive positions in public research organizations, executive government......The list goes on but I want to get to the point.
Jarome is a good guy to know.
Here is a summary of what his network of friends has developed...he wrote me an email. This is valid science, and days away from a Health Canada approval...
MultiGEN test panels for the COVID-19 Pandemic
Effective response to viral pandemics requires the use of a verifiably accurate molecular diagnostic test panel to detect infected patients for isolation and effective containment, to identify genetic drift/antigenic variations for effective vaccine development, and the ability to process large numbers of samples on existing instrumentation. This (high throughput) HTM-based testing accomplishes all these objectives, andby virtue of enhanced sensitivity would also identify asymptomatic carriers who may have a low initial concentration of the virus in collected samples, thereby reducingthe potential for spread.
Most testing is currently performed by a technology called RealTime PCR. Results by this method are only presumptive, not confirmatory, and have a recognized significant percentage of both false positives (potentially straining treatment facilities) and false negatives (increasing spread) as documented in recent publications and by Dr. Bonnie Henry. During a viral pandemic, the inability to confirm results as truly accurate in the same test undermines an effective management strategy. An ideal initial test should be confirmatory so that the health care workers can be adequately protected, the number patients quarantined can be minimized, and the rapid depletion of resources available in hospitals and health care centers can be minimized. Such a test should also be capable of detecting the virus in low concentration, distinguishing between viruses with similar clinical presentations (such as influenza and SARS), and monitoring the emergence of novel viruses. In order to meet these vital performance characteristics, we have developed a series of DNA sequence-based test panels.
Sanger sequencing is the acknowledged Gold Standard for identifying all pathogens, including the COVID-19 virus. Conventional Sanger sequencing can only generate one contiguous genomic sequence at a time, but MultiGEN platform technologies as used in our HTMs are novel patented modifications of conventional Sanger sequencing technology that allow the generation of genomic sequences from multiple viruses simultaneously. Furthermore, RNA viruses such as COVID-19 and SARS mutate, making it essential that a detection technology has the ability to detect multiple segments of each virus in the same test for incontrovertible identification. MultiGEN assays follow the standard sequencing process with which virtually every molecular laboratory is familiar, and hence there is no need of extensive training. The format of our assay shows simultaneous virus-specific genomic sequences from multiple segments of each virus in the panel.
Key reagents to identify a new virus can be designed within days of knowing the unique genetic sequence, with virtually immediate ramp-up of production by our GMP reagent manufacturer.
MultiGEN based sample processing therefore has the following important advantages over RealTime PCR based methods:
• The confirmed identity of a virus (as well as other pathogens in the panel) without false positive or negative results in 24 hours
• Elimination of cross-contamination between samples
• A lower limit of detection (LOD) as the genomic sequence is distinguishable from the background noise. This reduces the chance of missing carriers with a low concentration of virus in provided samples.
• An unmatched ability to detect ongoing mutations in specific regions of the virus
HTMs use off-the-shelf instrumentation and are able to process multiples of 1,720 samples/24-hours.
Our current MultiGEN test panels for corona virus-related pandemics include:
• COVID-19 & Influenza
• COVID-19 & SARS
Do you want to see more about the company behind this?
Check out MutantDX