After two years of laboratory resources and operations being ravaged by pandemic limitations, the American Heart Association has made an urgent call for additional investment in science.
Scientific research around the world has been severely hindered by stay-at-home regulations and reduced staffing at key facilities, according to an article published today in the American Heart Association’s own journal Circulation. As a result, early-career scientists, particularly women and minorities, will encounter impediments to professional advancement.
COVID-19 pandemic has seen “remarkable scientific successes in the face of tremendous challenges,” says Elizabeth McNally, chair of the association’s Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Council and director of the Center for Genetic Medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinstein School of Medicine in Chicago. Research laboratories around the world have experienced a variety of challenges, including laboratory shutdowns, the requirement for social distance, disease, supply chain limits, and many more.
In light of the epidemic, “we must re-invest in the scientific infrastructure to rebuild so that we are ready for the next challenges that come our way,” he said.
For several months, clinical studies were put on hold due to the pandemic, which had a range of repercussions on scientific research, including laboratory shutdowns and staged re-entry. Supply chain shortages and the general toll that modern life takes on workers, such as the cost or needs of childcare and the difficulties of working from home, exacerbate these problems. These issues.
Suffice it to say that “scientists who are parents of little ones struggled because, for most researchers, the home is not a laboratory,” says McNally.
Trainees and early-career scientists, as well as researchers from under-resourced racial and ethnic groups, have been particularly affected by the spread of COVID-19 infection and serious disease.
“It’s expensive and possibly irrecoverable to lose these individuals from the workforce because they’ve spent years training to be scientists and clinicians.”
He adds that because COVID-19 was given so much attention, there will be information gaps in other study fields (like cardiovascular health) that will eventually require funding..
There is a danger that we could lose a generation of scientists, which could delay the development of new medicines for diseases, says Mitchell Elkind, a professor in neurology and epidemiology at Columbia University in New York and a member of the association. “We need to act fast to divert resources to this problem before these impacts are irrevocable. The resources and efforts of society must be distributed equitably so that everyone can benefit from them.”
Public faith in science is at an all-time high (despite widespread disinformation), according to the authors, and epidemiologists and other health professionals have gained notoriety as reliable and visible sources of information. Moreover, the quick adoption of telehealth and other flexible arrangements suggests that science and health are capable of adapting to new circumstances. Authors suggest the scientific community’s long-term viability is dependent on increased, focused investment.
According to Elkind, “Investments in science and scientists and doctors are investments that will pay off many times over in the future – and ensuring that we are ready for the next epidemic or scientific problems.
