Title Page & Abstract
An Interview with Paul Hergenrother, PhD
Part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
Tumultuous 2020 Oral History project
Interview # T20-A-L-2021-012
Dr. Paul Hergenrother, Chemistry Department faculty member involved with the development of the SHIELD Illinois Saliva test, was interviewed on the date listed below as part of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library’s Tumultuous 2020 Oral History project.
Interview Date & Location:
Date: May 17, 2021 Location: University of Illinois, Urbana
Interview Format: Digital audio
Interviewer: Philip Pogue, ALPL volunteer
Total Time: 1:25 / 1.42 hrs.
Accessioned into the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library Archives on June 16, 2021.
The interview is archived at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library in Springfield, Illinois.
© 2021 Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library
Abstract
Paul Hergenrother, Tumultuous 2020, T20-A-L-2021-012
Biographical Information/Overview of Interview: Paul Hergenrother was born in Akron, Ohio (1972). Paul attended Walsh Jesuit High School, graduating in 1990. Paul then attended Notre Dame University, majoring in Chemistry, earning a BS degree in 1994. He received a Ph.D. in 1999 from the University of Texas (Austin). While there he was awarded an American Chemical Society graduate student fellowship and the Roche Award for Organic Chemistry. Later Paul did an American Cancer Society post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard. Paul joined the Chemistry faculty at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) in 2001, conducting research involving the use of organic compounds to identify novel cellular targets, allowing this to be used in the treatment of cancer and drug resistance bacteria. Dr. Hergenrother has been widely published and has received numerous awards during his career. Hergenrother helped lead a team of researchers in the development of SHIELD Illinois.
Dr. Hergenrother discussed the efforts of many researchers, medical professionals, and lab personnel in the creation of the SHIELD Illinois Saliva test which the UIUC campus implemented during the 2020-21 school year. He reviews the T3 schedule (Target, Test, Tell), and talks about the role of the University’s Veterinary Lab, the roles of the various research departments, the timeline for implementation, the clinical studies helped by Carle Medicine, and the support and financing received from the University. He also addressed the importance of testing sites, testing requirements, and app development. Also reviewed were the changes made in testing protocols throughout the year, including the winter months and normal school breaks. In addition, Hergenrother covers the relations the University had with county and city health departments along with the State of Illinois and the Food and Drug administration. He then looked at the options for the summer and fall for 2021, especially regarding in-person learning and the use of the Saliva Test at other universities, community colleges, k-12 schools, industrial and business locations. Finally, he examines how going to remote learning impacted the University’s science facilities and classes.
Subject Headings/Key Words: impact of COVID-19 pandemic at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; SHIELD Illinois saliva test; Carle Medicine; transition from in-person to virtual classwork; vaccination efforts at the University of Illinois; University of Illinois Veterinary Lab; saliva based research team
Notes to the Reader: Readers of the oral history memoir should bear in mind that this is a transcript of the spoken word, and that the interviewer, interviewee and editor sought to preserve the informal, conversational style that is inherent in such historical sources. The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is not responsible for the factual accuracy of the memoir, nor for the views expressed therein. We leave these for the reader to judge.
COPYRIGHT
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