Colleague to Colleague to Friend
Dr. Jason Mills gifted 600 masks to WashU Nephrology.
Jason Mills, MD, PhD, Washington University Division of Gastroenterology, has generously donated 600 high quality surgical masks to his good friend Sanjay Jain, MD, PhD, here in the Division of Nephrology. Dr. Mills was passing on the gift of the much-needed PPE that he himself had received from an overseas colleague who had been on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19.
”I’m amazed that my colleague thought and arranged to ship these masks as soon as he returned home to quarantine after working for two months in one of the emergency hospitals in his country,” says Dr. Mills the contribution.
The masks are indeed a valued commodity in WashU Nephrology’s dialysis units. While a huge thank you goes to Mills for thinking of our division, he says, “I have done nothing other than have amazing, generous colleagues! I have given some of the masks to the Department of Pathology and to Oncology Division as well. I just have been wanting to distribute equitably to those in greatest need.”
Always Part of the Chromalloy Family
Zhao Sun, PhD, currently a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Developmental Biology at WashU (Andrew Yoo Lab),
Zhao Sun, PhD, currently a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Developmental Biology at WashU (Andrew Yoo Lab), thought of his previous colleagues here in nephrology when he received a stash of both of regular disposable masks and KN95 masks from his parents in China.
Dr. Sun didn’t believe he needed the KN95 masks (the Chinese equivalent to N95 masks), so he reached out to Benjamin Humphreys, MD, PhD, our division chief. “I used to work in Dr. Humphreys’ lab as a postdoc, so I was part of the “Chromalloy family.”
According to Sun, he was inspired and touched by the posts about the home-brewed hand sanitizer made for our dialysis centers by members of Drs. Sanjay Jain and Jeffrey Miner’s labs. “These masks are more valuable to you. Those doctors and nurses in our renal clinic working on the frontline are truly heroes during this COVID-19 pandemic,” he says. “I am glad that I can help a little bit for my old division!”
Many thanks to all who are helping spread the generosity in appreciation for our healthcare workers.