Guilford based biotech company Detect, Inc. is looking for healthy volunteers to participate in a research study to “self-swab” their nose and donate nasal samples. The testing takes about ten minutes and participants will receive a $5 gift card to Cilantro Coffee Roasters in Guilford, according to company officials.

Detect, Inc. is a health technology company with the mission to build tools that empower people to understand their health and make informed, timely decisions by bringing accurate testing into the home, according to the company’s Clinical Researcher, Kirsty Wohl. Founded by scientist and National Medal of Technology and Innovation recipient, Dr. Jonathan Rothberg, Detect, Inc. has been at the forefront of a number of COVID testing and treatment initiatives.

Last year, Detect’s innovative technology developed an important breakthrough into COVID testing that identifies COVID-19 at lower viral loads than antigen tests, allowing for earlier detection to mitigate pre-symptomatic spread of the virus.

According to the Wohl, development of this test relied heavily on the help of healthy volunteers in Guilford and New York City who donated their time to participate in research studies, but most importantly also donated self-collected nasal swabs.

“These swabs were really an integral part in getting the Detect COVID-19 test to market,” said Alexandra Kitz, Clinical Team Lead, “And even though the Detect COVID-19 test is now commercially available, we still need those healthy nasal swabs to help with test improvements and foremost develop at-home tests for other respiratory illnesses.”

Community participation will be vital to the next phase of research, said Wohl.

“We love how the shoreline community has helped us with our research for the COVID-19 test,” Wohl said. “Two years ago during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic we had lines of people out the door who wanted to donate so that we could develop a test kit that was easy to use at home. Once we got EUA approval for our test, we lost a lot of community outreach because I think that many thought we were finished with our mission. Now that our COVID-19 test is available to the public, we need the community more than ever to help us with future home kits we want to develop.”

COVID is not the sole focus of the company’s research and these testing trials will also provide critical information and data into other respiratory diseases and afflictions, according to Kitz. Detect has recently been awarded nearly $30 million from the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) to develop a COVID-19/Influenza A/B combo test to market and is also creating an easy and convenient Strep A at-home test, according to Wohl.

“As a parent of three little children that are basically sick all the time, getting answers within minutes in the morning would be a game changer and be a tremendous help in planning the day ahead,” Kitz said.

According to Wohl, volunteering at Detect has become a win-win for the shoreline community, and a critical component of their ability to conduct research. All volunteers receive a gift card supporting a local business; currently Cilantro Specialty Foods, located on the Guilford Green. Local first responders always get priority service.

The Detect research testing site is open on Tuesdays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., and on Thursdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a lunch break from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. It is located in the parking lot at 351 Old Whitfield Street in Guilford. Participants can sign up at detect.com/research.