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‘COVID Team’ Members Bring the Science

The experts, including CSAM Dean Lora Billings, guiding the University’s successful reopening and ongoing pandemic response

Posted in: Uncategorized

collage of Covid Team
“COVID Team” science-side roster (left to right, top row): Co-Chair Lora Billings, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics; Co-Chair Janice Smolowitz, dean of the School of Nursing; (left to right, bottom row) Donna Sadlon, associate vice president of Enterprise Application Services; Patricia Ruiz, director of the University Health Center; and Gena Coffey, assistant director of Environmental Health and Safety for University Facilities.

Middle-of-the-night emails, weekend phone calls, extensive research, on-campus site services and operations, fact-checking and Zoom brainstorming are all just part of the job for a team of five University experts responsible for using science to guide and advise the efforts to protect the on-campus community during the pandemic.

Their behind-the-scenes work includes advising President Susan A. Cole on policies and protocols, overseeing student health care, directing an extensive program of testing and contact tracing, providing training and guidance, overseeing environmental safety, managing Hawk Check and compiling data and examining it to find ways to further enhance COVID-19 safety.

The team’s roster comprises Janice Smolowitz, dean of the School of Nursing; Lora Billings, dean of the College of Science and Mathematics; Patricia Ruiz, director of the University Health Center; Donna Sadlon, associate vice president of Enterprise Application Services; and Gena Coffey, assistant director of Environmental Health and Safety for University Facilities.

Read the full article on the Montclair News Center