Four Projects Kick Off with Japan’s JICA, E-JUST Project

As a part of serving the society encountering COVID-19, Egypt-Japan University of Science and Technology (E-JUST), with the cooperation of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) E-JUST Project, launch 4 new projects to contribute to improving this situation. With many candidates with great innovative ideas, the best four have been chosen to start their projects with the cooperation of the JICA E-JUST Project.

1- Role of Laboratory Safety Committee in Controlling COVID-19 at E-JUST

Lead by Prof. Ahmed Abdel Mawgood, with the objective of controlling the spread of COVID-19 at E-JUST and surrounding communities by providing personal protective equipment (PPE), conducting several awareness events to update the community of COVID-19, and facilitating screening inpiduals for infection using antibody and/or QPCR test. Prof. Mawgood emphasized on the importance of this project which is to,

“Strengthen Health Care Service to provide an environment where the students, employees, and staff feel safe and healthy.”

2- Lateral Flow Test for COVID-19 based on Nasopharyngeal Samples for Point of Care Applications

Lead by Dr. Hassan Shokry Hassan, with the objective of developing a point of care strip test for COVID-19 based on Saliva sample instead of blood, which can be used for rapid virus screening. Prof. Shokry said that,

“The main outcome from this project is developing a strip test to be used in point of care diagnosis of the COVID-19. The test will be fast, painless, cheap, and can be performed at home without any risk.”

3- Using Computer Simulation Systems to Mitigate the Impact of COVID-19 Outbreaks

Lead by Prof Amr Eltawil, with the objective of developing computer simulation models used for different applications to mitigate COVID-19 outbreaks. Including a generic COVID-19 emergency response field or mobile healthcare facilities with resource requirements including beds, doctors, nurses, Ventilators, IC units, and medical supplies supply chain. Also, another model to predict the total infections and the medical staff infections over time within a certain community or hospital. Prof. Eltawil stressed that,

“E-JUST scientists and Japanese technology and experts in service of the Egyptian white army in the fight against COVID-19”

4- A type of low-cost Sterilizer based on quantum dots technology

Lead by Prof. Mohsen Ghali, with the objective of producing a product that can be used against bacterial and viral infections for hospitals and health care centers. This product would be a low-cost, natural antimicrobial agent that would be used as an effective disinfector. Prof. Mohsen stated that

“We introduce an innovative bacterial and antiviral sensitizer from the ingredients of the local market. “

Prof. El-Gohary, President of E-JUST, has fully supported JICA’s initiation to assist the Principal Investigators in achieving their goals and helping the community. Prof. El-Gohary said,

“On behalf of E-JUST community, all the appreciations to JICA and the Japanese people for their considerations to the Egyptian community to help innovations toward protection / prevention / treatment against COVID-19”

Mr. Watanabe, Chief Advisor of JICA E-JUST Project, has promoted this initiative in hopes to contribute to the society with the knowledge of the Egyptian Professors and the support of the Japanese Government. He also stated that outcomes of each project lead to actual countermeasures to COVID-19 as soon as the results are obtained.