WCCO Radio features Matthew Binnicker, Ph.D., in a review of Minnesota’s early COVID-19 response

By Tracy Will • December 18, 2020

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A recent story on WCCO Radio took a look back at Minnesota's response to COVID-19 during the early months of the pandemic. As part of the story, Matthew Binnicker, Ph.D., director of the Clinical Virology Laboratory at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, discussed the rapid test development that was required as the scope of the pandemic became clear.

"It typically takes our laboratories in the range of six to nine months to develop a new type of diagnostic test, and we did it in a span of three weeks," he says. 

Dr. Binnicker also talked about Mayo Clinic's varied approach to tackling the challenges that the virus presents. "From the testing perspective, from the treatment perspective, and from the vaccine development angle, I think Mayo Clinic has been involved in all attributes of that and really helped lead the way in terms of the Minnesota response, along with other partners around the state,” Dr. Binnicker says.

Key among those partnerships was Mayo Clinic's collaboration with the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Health.

Listen to the full story.

Tracy Will

Tracy Will is a senior marketing specialist at Mayo Clinic Laboratories where she covers innovation, specialty testing, and advances in laboratory medicine. Tracy has worked at Mayo Clinic since 2016.