On Thursday, Jan. 20 the LSU Health Shreveport Center of Excellence for Emerging Viral Threats (CEVT) received the largest private gift in its history.

“This gift will allow for the CEVT’s continued success in combating COVID-19 and serving the community,” John Vanchiere, MD, PhD, Associate Director of the CEVT and Director of the LSUHS COVID-19 Strike Team said.

Dewey and Gigi Corley through their Chaparral Foundation, together with Margaret Place Properties, Inc., Frances and William Comegys, III, and the Family of Aaron and Peggy Selber, committed a combined $1.2 million to establish the first endowment for CEVT.

“These gifts will provide fundamental support for the CEVT for years to come as we continue to address the public health needs of the North Louisiana region and beyond,” said LSU Health Shreveport Vice Chancellor for Research, Chris Kevil, PhD. “Support through gifts like this enhance our capability to address current and future viral threats and elevate LSU Health Shreveport’s position as a national leader in viral research.”

The Emerging Viral Threat (EVT) Laboratory was established in March 2020 to address the need for faster detection and processing of COVID tests, making it the first testing lab to be established at an academic medical center in Louisiana.

More: Milestone: LSU Health Shreveport's Emerging Viral Threats Lab processes 500K COVID tests

In December 2020, the LSU Board of Supervisors and the Louisiana Board of Regents designated the lab a Center of Excellence.

“As confident as I was in our ability to stand-up a first-class lab to process COVID-19 test samples, I could never have envisioned the wide-scale impact of our services," Andrew Yurochko, PhD, Executive Director of the Center of Excellence for Emerging Viral Threats said.

Since its inception, the CEVT has processed 547,344 COVID-19 PCR tests, administered 118,307 COVID-19 vaccines, and sequenced more than 10,000 SARS-CoV-2 genomes representing 48% of all genomic sequencing in Louisiana.

"I will be forever grateful to our lab staff, strike teams and LSUHS leadership for their early and continued support allowing us to grow and now be on the cusp of moving into a BSL3 lab in in 2023,” Yurochko said.

Read: Research Notebook: LSUH Shreveport contributes to COVID sequencing milestone for global database

The Center of Excellence for Emerging Viral Threats’ core mission is to engage in multidisciplinary, basic, and translational research on infectious viruses, provide surveillance and detection for current and future viral threats, provide cutting edge diagnostics and access to national clinical trials, and educate physicians, scientists and the community about prevention, treatment and the science of viral-mediated diseases.

“On behalf of the entire COVID-19 Strike Team, I am thankful for these community leaders who recognize the important work being done by the CEVT,” Vanchiere said.

Bill Comegys, president of the local non-profit group, Margaret Place Properties, Inc., shared, “We are excited for the opportunity to support the CEVT at LSU Health Shreveport. The CEVT has become a vital resource for our community and its citizens, and we are proud to aid in its continued growth.”

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Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: LSU Health CVET receives $1.2 million gift for COVID fight