Roswell Park COVID-19 Updates: Scientists Team Up to Make Hand Sanitizer

Roswell Park-Made Hand Sanitizer to Debut on Campus

With hand hygiene of critical importance and hand sanitizer in dangerously short supply internationally, staff at Roswell Park got creative. A team of engineers and research scientists worked collaboratively to see if it was possible to produce hand sanitizer to meet the cancer center’s needs. With two successful test runs behind them, the team — led by Dale Henry, Ravindra Pandey, PhD, and Raymond Jones — will now set to work producing 100 or more gallons of hand sanitizer to be used in dispensers across the Roswell Park campus. “Our research community is very experienced and learned in preparing solutions for their labs as part of their daily work,” notes Henry, Roswell Park’s Chief Scientific Operations Officer. “This is simply using a new process for their preparations and materials.”

April Donations to Ride For Roswell Support COVID-19 Response Fund

Throughout the month of April, all donations to the Ride For Roswell will go toward the Roswell Park COVID-19 Response Fund, which will be used immediately to help Roswell Park patients and staff in four vital areas:

• Purchasing critically needed medical supplies.
• Supporting patients needing financial assistance due to the coronavirus.
• Providing staff and patients with meals and telecommunication tools.
• Conducting research on COVID-19 treatments and its effect on cancer patients and the general population.
  Read more in an update about the impact of COVID-19 on this year’s Ride.

Signs of Hope and Healing

Spreading messages of hope, positivity and resiliency, colorful signs have popped up in buildings across the Roswell Park campus and in Kaminski Park and Gardens. The new signs share everything from information about meditation to quotes from influential leaders like the Dalai Lama and Nelson Mandela, and are intended to brighten, comfort and inspire all who see them. Check out a preview here. And while it’s not possible for us to have live performers at Roswell Park, we now have soft music playing in the lobby and park.

Online Resources for Smokers Looking to Quit

Uncertain times can create prolonged stress and anxiety. The New York State Smokers’ Quitline shares a reminder for those who smoke tobacco products or vape e-cigarettes: Online resources are available to help you curb your use or quit altogether. Through nysmokefree.com, the Quitline provides self-support resources for how to curb nicotine use and ultimately stay quit. Helpful sections of the website include pages on managing stress, identifying triggers and dealing with slips or relapse and resources for healthcare professionals. See more in this press release from the Quitline, which operates from Roswell Park.

Regional COVID-19 Study Now Underway at Additional Sites

Three more sites are now offering an investigational therapy for COVID-19 to eligible patients through a clinical study led locally by Roswell Park’s Igor Puzanov, MD, MSci, as part of an international research effort sponsored by Regeneron and Sanofi. This study of the anti-inflammatory drug sarilumab opened at Roswell Park last week and has now expanded to three additional sites through collaboration with the University at Buffalo, Buffalo General Medical Center, Erie County Medical Center and Millard Fillmore Suburban Hospital. “If it is proven effective in reducing or preventing severe lung injury in these patients,” Dr. Puzanov says of sarilumab, “it could significantly reduce the need for ventilators. And that would truly be a big relief right now.”

Editor’s note: Because information and policies regarding the COVID-19 health crisis are rapidly changing, the information we are providing may quickly become outdated. Please check back regularly at roswellpark.org/coronavirus for updates and new information.

###

Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is a community united by the drive to eliminate cancer’s grip on humanity by unlocking its secrets through personalized approaches and unleashing the healing power of hope. Founded by Dr. Roswell Park in 1898, it is the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center in Upstate New York. Learn more at www.roswellpark.org, or contact us at 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or ASKRoswell@RoswellPark.org.