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AMSTERDAM, NY—Congressman Paul D. Tonko announced today that Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been awarded a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant totaling $200,000 towards research seeking to extend the usable life of critically needed N95 respirators and other personal protective equipment (PPE).

 “For our frontline health care workers, access to PPE is a matter of life and death,” Congressman Tonko said. “All of us must work to ensure that our medical professionals battling this pandemic day in and day out receive the resources they need to protect themselves, their patients and their communities. This project, developed by the incredible minds at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, takes essential steps to address the shortage of these materials, which will save precious lives in our Capital Region and beyond. These kinds of innovative solutions are how we are going to defeat the COVID-19 crisis and I commend the National Science Foundation for their support of these visionary efforts.”

“Professors Zha and Palermo have devised a novel and innovative solution to a critical challenge, that of increasing the availability of N95 masks. This work will integrate new materials in to the mask frame that not just block, but deactivate the virus. This could enable multiple re-use of the mask after sterilization, thereby substantially increasing the effective supply. This work is part of a broader interaction between Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, coordinated by the Director of the Rensselaer Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Professor Deepak Vashishth,” said Robert Hull, the Acting Vice President for Research at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 

“We want the information to be widely accessible, so that other people, whether they’re in Brazil, or India, or somewhere else in this country, can potentially do this themselves,” said Helen Zha, an assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at Rensselaer.

“Our proposed technology would make the mask self-disinfect by inactivating viral particles on contact. If successful, such a technology might enable healthcare workers to safely use the same mask for longer periods of time,” said Edmund Palermo, an assistant professor of material science and engineering at Rensselaer.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Tonko has fought to ensure an adequate supply of N95 masks and PPE. Included in the $8.3 billion emergency coronavirus spending package was a provision authored by Tonko to help ensure manufacturers have the certainty they need to serve the market with N95 respirators during the current coronavirus crisis. Based off his previous legislation H.R. 4982, the Health Care Workforce Protection Act, the provision shifts liability from manufacturers to the federal government during a declared PREP Act emergency in which respirators are an essential part of the public health response.

Last week, Tonko sent a letter to Vice President Mike Pence urging the Administration to provide N95 masks, PPE and other materials for health care workers and for the President to take immediate action to manufacture these supplies under the Defense Production Act.

Established by Congress in 1950, the NSF serves as an independent federal agency and works to develop cutting edge technologies in physics, mathematics, cybersecurity, neuroscience, and STEM education. Currently, NSF is responsible for funding 24 percent of all federally backed research at national colleges and universities.

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