Opinion: Here`s how we restore productivity and vigor to the biomedical research workforce in the midst of COVID-19

M. Bishr Omary and Mahmud Hassan; PNAS August 18, 2020 117 (33) 19612-19614

Figure: COVID-19 has been a major blow to biomedical research and its workforce. Institutions, including the NIH (Bethesda, MD campus pictured here), can aid biomedical researchers with safe return-to-work programs, appropriate testing for infection, and an infusion of stimulus funds. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons/National Institutes of Health.

The first known case of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was reported in China in November 2019; in the United States, the first reported case was on January 22.* Essential stay-at-home mandates worldwide have helped mitigate the exponential growth in hospitalizations and death and have led to gradual reopenings in China, South Korea, several European countries, and parts of the United States. But clearly plenty of danger remains, as parts of the United States and a handful of other countries experience major spikes in the number of cases. The pandemic’s public health impact continues to reverberate. So too do the economic impacts, coupled with massive job losses. From the biomedical experimental “wet” laboratory research perspective, there has been a ramp-down, if not shutdown, of non–COVID-19–related research because of the need for social distancing measures that protect the research workforce (1). Clinical research has been similarly disrupted. Computational dry laboratory research is predictably less impacted because such research can be done remotely. For those carrying out wet laboratory work, be it graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, other learners, staff, or researchers, the bench is the computer and onsite experiments cannot be performed remotely.

Several analyses have documented the economic impact on unemployment, bankruptcy, and other sectors of the economy.^† The US Department of Treasury has adopted initiatives to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, including payroll for the employees of the small business organizations and forgivable loans. The biomedical research enterprise has suffered economically as well.

Herein, we highlight the impact on biomedical research and present implementable solutions. Already, the economic, productivity, and wellness impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on biomedical research and its workforce have been debilitating. Biomedical researchers need safe, urgent return-to-work programs, coupled with appropriate testing for infection, and an infusion of stimulus funds.

See https://www.pnas.org/content/117/33/19612