Farewell 2021, Time to Bring in 2022

It has been quite a year. Francis Collins, NIH Director for over 12 years, stepped down after an extraordinary tenure, a tenure marked by “a calm hand, a scientific mind, and a deep commitment to the well-being of all Americans.” The stresses and ongoing uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic continued in almost roller-coaster like fashion; at this writing, we are in the midst of the Omicron surge. As some COVID-19 grant-related flexibilities remain in place, anxieties persist about intermediate- and long-term effects of the pandemic on research productivity, mental health, financial well-being, and family responsibilities. NIH leadership and top advisors remain focused on the effects of structural racism on biomedical research and public health, along with efforts to address them. At the same time, biomedical research, including NIH-funded biomedical research has realized unprecedented triumphs, including the rapid development of effective vaccines, treatments, and diagnostic tests for COVID-19. Some estimates suggest that COVID-19 vaccines have saved over 1.1 million lives already (according to the Commonwealth Fund). As the snow fell outside last week, I virtually sat down with Dr. David Kosub from the NIH Office of Extramural Research’s communications group to look back and reflect on these issues and others from 2021, and where we may be going in the new year. Please take a few minutes and join us for this conversation.   One way we gauge community interest is ...
Source: NIH Extramural Nexus - Category: Research Authors: Tags: blog Open Mike biomedical research workforce COVID-19 reflection Source Type: funding