Thread based on my new paper in @NatureMedicine published today:

Covidization of research: what are the risks?

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-020-1015-0

Researchers, universities, funders, philanthropies, journals, and journalists have all pivoted, en masse, to #COVIDー19 during this pandemic.

Everyone is ‘Covidized’.

Covidization makes sense – research is desperately needed to fight this pandemic. So, everyone is doing their best to contribute and move at warp speed.

Crisis-driven, urgent approaches have led to some successes in the past (e.g. new tools for Ebola, HIV).

However, as a scientific community, we must look beyond the immediate crisis to ask ourselves: what are the risks involved in Covidization?

Because everything is rushed & because many people, mostly well-intentioned, are working on COVID-19, there is so much noise that everyone is struggling to separate signal from noise. We see a flood of dubious & retracted research, and a lowering of normal scientific standards.

Scientists working in areas that have nothing to do with COVID-19 are expending a tremendous amount of energy pivoting their work to the response. This might result in tremendous redundancy and wastage, as shown by the hydroxychloroquine fiasco.

There is a big risk in pivoting to a new research field only to find the problem disappear soon after. We saw this happen with the Zika virus outbreak in 2016. It is not easy to sustain crisis-driven initiatives.

Another risk of Covidization is getting it wrong! By indulging in epistemic trespassing, we open the door to big mistakes with bad consequences.

This paper on epistemic trespassing is a must read: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/which-experts-should-you-listen-to-during-the-pandemic/

And what happens to progress in other critical areas, if leading scientists have diverted their attention to COVID-19? It is important to remember that good health requires us to address a range of issues, not just Covid-19.

I think scientists are at their best when they focus on their passion and do what they do best and trained for their entire lives. While the pandemic might require many researchers to pivot, at least some should stay focused on their primary mission/passion.

I think we need ‘designated drivers’ to keep the momentum going in various fields. Every aspect of global health is devastated by Covid-19: TB, AIDS, malaria, immunization, maternal & child health, NCDs, mental health, you name it. Each area needs designated drivers!

Humanity has endured many crises over centuries. The COVID-19 crisis will also pass. We need a long-term vision and strategy for research & scholarship. Short-term, crisis-driven thinking is neither strategic nor sustainable. A crisis should not dictate all research investments.

As a scientific community, we need to acknowledge that all health research cannot be about a pandemic or infectious threats, and all infectious-disease research cannot be about COVID-19.

So, governments, funders, universities, journals and individual researchers should be thoughtful about the risks of Covidization and should not forget that diversity in research is critical for any society. Everything cannot be about Covid!