Back to School Conference Agenda

SECTION 1: THE CHALLENGES OF SCHOOL

8:45 AM - Welcome Remarks: Think Tank Mission and Overview
‍• Punam Mather, Elaine Wynn Foundation
• Simon Johnson, Professor of Entrepreneurship at the MIT Sloan School of Management

9:05 AM - Integrative Testing Solutions
‍What is the broader impact of school/university wide COVID testing programs nationwide?  What have we learned?  What actions must we take now?
• Moderator: Mara Aspinall, Arizona State University and the Rockefeller Foundation
• Bradley Pollock, Executive Director at Healthy Davis Together
• Ron Watkins, Managing Director of SHIELD Illinois
• Ross Wilson, Executive Director of Shah Foundation

10:30 AM – Break

11:00 AM – Case Studies from the Field: A Changing Paradigm
How have some schools managed to stay open? What strategies did they utilize and what are the lessons learned? The role of parents: how are parents organizing to get kids back to school? What is the role of parents in COVID education?
• Jesse Boehm, Chair of the Safer Teachers, Safer Students K12 SARS-CoV-2 Testing Collaborative, Boston, MA
• Toni Boyd, VP of Finance and Operations, Westminster School, Atlanta, GA

11:40 AM – How to keep kids engaged during the Pandemic
A Pandemic curriculum geared toward engaging students. Building a world-class lab-based and seminar-based curriculum for high school students so that they can spread the word quickly – teaching others in their community.
• Julie Boehm, High School Biotechnology Instructor, MA

12:05 AM – The Federal Response
How to access the $60+billion allotted to schools by the Federal Government?
• Mary Anne Schmitt-Carey, C19
• Punam Mather, Elaine Wynn Foundation

12:30 PM – Lunch

SECTION 2: A NEW MODEL OF LIVING IN A POST PANDEMIC WORLD
‍‍
1:30 PM – Model to Return Athletics
What is the model to return sports to middle, high school, and college? A combination of frequent testing, vaccinations, and behavioral modification will be necessary for safe return to competition. The experience of professionals including NBA, NHL, NFL
• Moderator: Robby Sikka, MD, VP of Basketball Performance & Technology for Minnesota Timberwolves2:15 PM – Laboratories and Logistics
Wynn Resorts has built its own onsite PCR COVID-19 testing lab. What role do labs have in businesses and educational institutions? What does it take logistically to set up and run a COVID testing lab? How can we provide wide-spread collection and shipping across the nation to enable lab-based testing for everyone.
• Prem Premsrirut, MD, PhD, Founder and CEO of Mirimus
• Mark Roth, CEO of Lighthouse Lab Services
• Daniel Gagnon, Vice President, Global UPS Healthcare Marketing & Strategy, UPS Healthcare3:00 PM – Break

SECTION 3: TECHNOLOGIES AND ADVANCES‍

3:30 PM – Overview of Existing Technologies
How will testing incorporate into our lives and professions in the future?
• Anne Wyllie, PhD, Yale Public School of Health and SalivaDirect

3:45 PM – Big Tech and The Cloud: Sharing Economy
Contact tracing. Panel discussion.
• Gabor Bethlendy, Founder and CEO of Meenta

4:00 PM – Regulatory Challenges and Advances. What has this meant for testing?
• Randy True, Founder, Focus on Foundations

4:15 PM – How companies adapt.
‍Many have pivoted and found collaborations outside their normal network to provide innovative solutions.
‍• Avni Santani, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Veritas Genetics

4:30 PM – Panel Discussion. Is the testing business here to stay post COVID? What can we expect to happen?
• Anne Wyllie, PhD, Yale Public School of Health and SalivaDirect
• Mike Hogan, Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer, PathogenDx
• Randy True, Founder, Focus on Foundations
• Brian Plew, Thermo Fisher

5:00 PM – A demonstration. Video clips of selected XPRIZE & other technologies

7:00 PM – Dinner

8:00 AM – Coffee & Continental Breakfast
‍
9:00 AM – Lessons Learned and Action Items from Day 1
• Mary Anne Schmitt-Carey, C19

SECTION 4: VENTILATION AND AIR CONTROL: GOING ON OFFENSE AGAINST COVID

9:15 AM – Introduction of the panel
• Simon Turner, Founder, Building Cognition

9:30 AM – Understanding aerosols and droplets
What does science say?  What do we know about the Aerosol spread of the virus? ASHRAE and ventilation science. Categories of Technologies – Photocatalytic Oxidation (PCO). Filtration Systems. HEPA and MERV Filters. Ultraviolet light. Far UVC light.
• Max Sherman, PhD, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Retired

10:00 AM – Air movement in buildings. How to track and audit airflow in buildings. Measurement technologies.
• Sean McCrady, Director, Assets and Sustainability, UL

10:30 AM – The Lighthouse Lab, powered by Mirimus. A brief introduction to the SalivaClearTM method used in the lab located in the Wynn Resorts. A guided tour of the Lab on premise.

• Prem Premsrirut, MD, PhD, CEO, Mirimus
10:35 AM – Break for the tour

11:30 AM – Inside Schools. Schools are unique buildings and represent challenges for ventilation systems. A primer for Superintendents and mechanical engineers.
• Jeff Wagner

11:50 AM – Ventilation Economics. Cost benefits
• Simon Turner, Founder, Building Cognition

12:10 PM – Panel discussion. Retrofit decisions and the Wynn’s approach to COVID-19 resilience.
• Marty Brown, Wynn

12:30 PM – Lunch

SECTION 5: STRATEGIES TO MOVE FORWARD

1:30 PM – Session I: School Nurse Leaders: On the Frontlines of Opening Schools
‍Hear from the nurses who are at the forefront of getting schools back open.

• Chair: Kirk O’Donnell, MD, Meenta
• Laurie G. Combe, MN, RN, NCSN
• Robin Cogan, MEd, RN, NCSN
• Kathleen A. Hassey, DNP, MEd, BSN, BA, RN
• Kate King, DNP MS, RN, LSN
• Rebecca Love, Clinical Advisor, Meenta, RN, MSN, FIEL

2:30 PM – Breakout Session I: The Blueprint for Success
‍Small group working sessions on the topics listed below will convene to develop strategies and next steps. Assessment of the present, goals for the future. It provides facilitators a broader diversity of input.
Government funding.
Best strategies for reopening.
Facilitating parent and student engagement

2:30 PM – Breakout Session II: The Blueprint for Success
‍Small group working sessions on the topics listed below will convene to develop strategies and next steps. Assessment of the present, goals for the future. It provides facilitators a broader diversity of input.
• Increase testing participation through educacation
• Testing technologies
• Vaccinations
• Ventilation
• Behavioral modifications

4:15 PM – Group Report
Brief summaries of breakout sessions with all participants.

5:00 PM – Closing remarks
• Anne Wyllie, PhD, Yale Public School of Health