Skip to main content
Thursday, October 29, 2026Oct 29
Subscribe
All Sections
Search
More

This story is free to read.

Cook: ‘It was a war effort’ – the unforgettable pandemic story of two local scientists

Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Dr. Elizabeth Forrester, left, and Dr. Dawn Richards pose at the Baylor Esoteric and Molecular Laboratory in the Weeks Science Building on the campus of Baylor School on Friday, July 17, 2020 in Chattanooga, Tenn.
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Dr. Elizabeth Forrester, left, and Dr. Dawn Richards pose at the Baylor Esoteric and Molecular Laboratory in the Weeks Science Building on the campus of Baylor School on Friday, July 17, 2020 in Chattanooga, Tenn. Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Dr. Elizabeth Forrester, left, and Dr. Dawn Richards pose at the Baylor Esoteric and Molecular Laboratory in the Weeks Science Building on the campus of Baylor School on Friday, July 17, 2020 in Chattanooga, Tenn.

By David Cook 5 min read

It was Saturday, March 14, 2020. The day before, Hamilton County had confirmed its first case of COVID-19. By Monday, our world would begin turning inside out.

Dr. Elizabeth Forrester had spent the morning inside the Baylor School lab. As she walked to the lacrosse fields, where her son Jack was playing, all she could think about was this emerging virus.

And our response.

She called her friend and colleague, Dr. Dawn Richards, asking a question that would alter our county forever.

“Do you realize we can do this?” Forrester said.