UVA Vet Scholar Develops UVC Device to Help Fight COVID-19
Grant Killian, a United States Navy veteran and rising junior at the University of Virginia, has been determined to use his academic training to confront mounting public health concerns surrounding COVID-19. He has teamed up with a fellow UVA student to develop a product to fight the spread of the virus, a device they have named the UVC-CARM, or UVC-Cleansing Array for Respiratory Masks.
After reading about significant supply shortages of personal protective equipment—with hospitals forced to come up with improvised fixes for reuse—Grant knew he could create a better solution. As a physics major at UVA, he was motivated review medical papers and journals to learn that ultraviolet light (UVC) is effective in killing coronavirus.
“Our UVC-CARM is cost-effective, user-friendly apparatus that uses UVC light to target and destroy harmful microbes and viruses in respiratory masks so they can be safely reused,” Grant says.
“By providing an affordable healthcare solution, we might hopefully dismantle one of the existing disparities between populations divided by wealth.”
He and his design partner hope that their device can help medical professionals, especially in under-resourced areas, treat their patients in an efficient manner and in a sanitary environment.
“With the UVC-CARM, our primary focus is to provide an affordable and easy-to-use solution for small healthcare centers, hospitals, nursing and retirement homes, and daycare centers in vulnerable and underserved populations worldwide, to mitigate risk of vital mask shortages during any pandemic,” Grant says. “By providing an affordable healthcare solution, we might hopefully dismantle one of the existing disparities between populations divided by wealth.”
Grant traces his passion for helping others to his own experience with a service-ending injury, which ended his quest to become a Navy SEAL. After his injury, Grant was surrounded by medical professionals, friends, and family members who he says were critical to his mental and physical recovery. He is now motivated to create supports for others in times of need.
Grant and his business partner have shared their UVC-CARM plans across personal and professional networks and are eager to enter the device prototype phase. They plan to shore up financial support via crowdfunding, private investors and government grants, as they move the product forward.
