Andrew Brooks facts for kids

Andrew Ira Brooks (born February 10, 1969 – died January 23, 2021) was an American scientist. He was an expert in the body's immune system. He also taught at Rutgers University. Dr. Brooks created the first quick saliva test for COVID-19. This test was approved by the FDA.

Early Life

Andrew Brooks was born in Bronxville, New York. This was on February 10, 1969. His mother, Phyllis, was a school teacher. His father, Perry, worked with diamonds. Andrew grew up in Old Bridge Township, New Jersey.

He first went to Cornell University. He studied animal sciences there. He wanted to become a veterinarian. But a summer job changed his mind. He worked at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. This made him interested in a different field. In 2000, he earned his PhD. He got this degree from the University of Rochester in neuroscience. Neuroscience is the study of the brain and nervous system.

Amazing Career and Research

After getting his PhD, Dr. Brooks stayed at the University of Rochester. He became a director there. Four years later, he moved back to New Jersey. He started working at Rutgers University. He joined different science departments.

In 2009, Dr. Brooks began working at RUCDR. This stands for Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository. It was a university company. It helped manage data and do research. He later became the CEO of this company. In 2018, it became a private company called Sampled. He was also a top scientist for Spectrum Solutions.

He helped advise the FDA. For 17 years, he directed a lab called Harlan GeneScreen. He was also a director at the Bionomics Research and Technology Center.

The First COVID-19 Saliva Test

Dr. Brooks was also a leader at RUCDR Infinite Biologics. Here, he developed a special saliva test for COVID-19. Before this, people used swabs in their nose or throat. The saliva test was much faster. It also meant fewer medical workers were needed.

He used his knowledge of genetic tests. He knew how to get DNA from saliva. He used similar methods to find the virus's RNA. The FDA gave emergency approval for this test. This happened in April 2020. It was the first at-home test approved by the government.

Dr. Brooks not only designed the test. He also helped make it available to many people. He made sure enough tests could be produced. More than 4 million people have used his test.

Other Research

Dr. Brooks wrote over 70 scientific papers. These papers have been used by other scientists over 1000 times. Besides his COVID-19 work, he studied how memories and learning work. He looked at how genes and the environment affect each other. This included studies on brain diseases. He also worked on fast ways to analyze samples. And he helped with biobanking. Biobanking is like a library for biological samples.

Personal Life

Andrew Brooks was married to Jill Brooks. He had three daughters from earlier marriages. He loved to play golf. He often played with his father. He even played in international tournaments as an amateur.

Dr. Brooks passed away on January 23, 2021. He died from a heart attack. The Governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, called him an "unsung hero." This means he was a hero who didn't always get public praise.

Published Works

• Wagner, Victoria E., Daniel Bushnell, Luciano Passador, Andrew I. Brooks, and Barbara H. Iglewski. "Microarray Analysis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Quorum-Sensing Regulons: Effects of Growth Phase and Environment." Journal of Bacteriology 185, no. 7 (April 1, 2003): 2080–2095.
• Welle, Stephen, Andrew I. Brooks, Joseph M. Delehanty, Nancy Needler, and Charles A. Thornton. "Gene expression profile of aging in human muscle." Physiological Genomics 14, no. 2 (July 7, 2003): 149–159.
• Yao, Pamela J, Min Zhu, Eunice I Pyun, Andrew I Brooks, Stavros Therianos, Victoria E Meyers, and Paul D Coleman. "Defects in expression of genes related to synaptic vesicle trafficking in frontal cortex of Alzheimer's disease." Neurobiology of Disease 12, no. 2 (March 1, 2003): 97–109.