30 potential participants have already gotten in touch with us regarding our project since we launched the crowdfunding campaign! 💖🏳️⚧️ And – thanks to the generous support of over 140 backers – we are now getting ready to send out the first sampling kits to participants! 🎉
Before sending the sampling kits out we wanted to give you sneak peek of what our prospective participants will receive in their mailbox soon ✉️📬
- the general participant information sheet ℹ️ This contains all the details about our study (the goals, process, contact details etc). This sheet will give participants all the information they need before they are able to give informed consent.
- a participant guide book 📓 The booklet explains the process for enrolling in the study, how their information will be anonymized and also how to take and handle their actual microbiome sample.
- a vaginal swab kit 🧪 The actual swabbing kit contains a) the sterile swab itself and b) a sterile sample container filled with a stabilizing buffer which allow the sample to safely travel back to us.
- a prepaid return envelope 💌 Once the swabbing is done, participants just have to put their sample into the already prepared return envelope and just put it into a mailbox to get their sample on the way.
In a few days the first 4-5 of these participant kits will be on their way to the first participants that will help us beta test that the whole process works as planned 👩🏿🔬👩🔬🧬
We still need your help to spread the word though:
- We are still looking for additional participants from the European Union for this project, for a total of 50!
- We already have more potential participants than funding. If we can make it to our optimum goal, we will be able to work with the full 50 participants we are aiming for!
If you know people or organizations that might be interested in reaching out to potential participants – or in supporting us financially – please let them know about this campaign and study!
The actual swabbing kit: The swab (bottom) and the sample container (top)